Subsequent Discharge of Serious Allegations Overcomes Prior Judicial Refusal to Quash FIR Based on Settlement

The marriage between Petitioner No. 1 and Respondent No. 2, solemnized on 27.11.2020, deteriorated due to matrimonial discord, leading to the registration of FIR No. 0242/2019 at PS Jyoti Nagar

An earlier quashing petition (Crl. M.C. 586/2025) was dismissed by a Co-ordinate Bench on 24.07.2025 because of serious allegations of unnatural physical assault and sexual assault (Section 377 IPC), despite a settlement between parties

Subsequently, an order on charge dated 24.02.2026 was passed by the Trial Court wherein Petitioner No. 1 was discharged of Section 377 IPC and charged only under Sections 406/323/34 IPC, while Petitioner No. 4 was completely discharged

The parties have since obtained a divorce by mutual consent and the Petitioner has paid a total settlement amount of Rs. 11 lacs to the Respondent

1. Whether the High Court can entertain a second quashing petition on the basis of a settlement after an earlier petition was dismissed due to the gravity of charges, provided the accused has since been discharged of the serious offences

2. Whether, in light of the settlement and the discharge of the accused from serious sexual assault charges, the continuation of criminal proceedings under minor matrimonial offences would serve the ends of justice

Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 (the successor to Section 482 CrPC), which allows the High Court to quash proceedings to prevent abuse of the process of law or to secure the ends of justice

While serious/heinous crimes cannot be quashed via settlement, matrimonial disputes involving compoundable or less severe offences (Sections 406/323 IPC) may be quashed if a bona fide settlement is reached and the serious allegations are legally removed from the record

The Court noted that the primary roadblock to the previous quashing attempt was the existence of allegations under Section 377 IPC and sexual assault

The legal landscape changed with the Trial Court’s order on charge dated 24.02.2026, which formally discharged the petitioners of those heinous allegations and limited the scope of the trial to Sections 406 and 323 IPC

The Court observed that the parties had already dissolved their marriage by mutual consent and the Respondent/Complainant had received the full settlement amount of Rs. 11 lacs

The Court reasoned that since the serious charges no longer existed and the matrimonial dispute was amicably resolved, continuing the criminal trial would be a futile exercise and would not serve any useful purpose

Under Section 528 of the BNSS, the Court quashed FIR No. 0242/2019 and all consequential proceedings to secure the ends of justice

The Petitioners were directed to submit original affidavits to the Trial Court within two weeks