Quashing of Criminal Proceedings Under Section 354 IPC Based on Amicable Settlement and Compromise Between Parties

The petitioner, a Class-IV employee at L.N. Mithila University, was accused by the informant (Opposite Party No. 2) of molestation and attempted rape on December 21, 2014, while she was collecting fuel wood

Bahadurpur P.S. Case No. 417 of 2014 was registered under Sections 376/511 of the IPC

Following a police investigation that submitted a final form (giving the petitioner a clean lead), the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Darbhanga, took a differing view and took cognizance of the offences under Sections 323, 341, and 354 of the IPC on September 1, 2018

The petitioner moved the High Court seeking quashing of the cognizance order, submitting that the parties had since entered into a compromise and "good sense had prevailed"

1. Whether the order of cognizance dated September 1, 2018, for offences under Sections 323, 341, and 354 of the IPC should be quashed in light of a compromise between the petitioner and the informant.

The Court primarily exercised its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to secure the ends of justice

While Sections 323 and 341 are compoundable under Section 320 of the CrPC, Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) is generally non-compoundable

where a private dispute has been settled and the parties intend to compound even non-compoundable offences to maintain harmony, the High Court may quash proceedings to prevent the abuse of the process of law

The Court noted that the initial allegations of attempted rape were not supported by the police investigation, which led to the CJM taking cognizance only for lesser offences

The Court observed that the petitioner and the informant had reached an amicable settlement, as evidenced by the supplementary affidavit dated March 18, 2024

Although the informant (O.P. No. 2) did not appear despite receiving personal notice, the Court accepted the petitioner's submission regarding the compromise

The Court reasoned that since the parties arrived at a settlement and intended to compound the offence under Section 354 of the IPC—and given that the rest of the offences were already compoundable—continuing the criminal proceeding would serve no purpose and quashing it was necessary to secure the ends of justice

The Court quashed and set aside the order dated September 1, 2018, passed by the CJM, Darbhanga, in Tr. No. 212 of 2018 arising out of Bahadurpur P.S. Case No. 417 of 2014

The application was allowed, and the trial court was directed to be informed of the order