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2019 DAILYLAW 2878 (ALL)

PANKAJ KUMAR AND 3 OTHERS v. STATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER

A482/1687/2019 · 2026-05-06

Nand Prabha Shukla

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Judgment text

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 1687 of 2019 Court No. - 78 HON'BLE NAND PRABHA SHUKLA, J. 1. Heard Mr. Deepak Sharma, learned counsel for the applicants, Mr. Rajnish Kumar Pandey, learned counsel for the opposite party No. 2, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. 2. The present application under Section 528 B.N.S.S. has been preferred to allow the present application and quash the charge sheet dated 12.07.2018 in Criminal Case No. 1347 of 2018 (State Vs. Laxmi Devi and others) under Sections 498A, 323 IPC and Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act arising out of Case Crime No. 21 of 2018, under Sections 498A, 323, 313, 377, 307 IPC and Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station-Mahila Thana, District-Aligarh pending in the Court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-8th, Aligarh. 3. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that the parties have settled their dispute through compromise which has been duly verified by the Court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 8, Aligarh vide order dated 05.03.2026. 4. Learned counsel for the applicants submits that the present dispute arises out of matrimonial discord between the applicants and the opposite party No. 2. It is also argued that the parties have willingly entered into a settlement and not under duress or threat or coercion and are not interested in pursuing the matter pending in the Court concerned and, therefore, the impugned proceedings be quashed on the ground of compromise between the parties and they do not propose to file the counter affidavit and rejoinder affidavit. 5. Learned A.G.A. also does not dispute the correctness of the submissions Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Ashish Kumar Srivastava, Deepak Sharma, Ruhi Yadav Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A., Pankaj Kumar Govil, Rajnish Kumar Pandey, Santosh Kumar Pandey Pankaj Kumar And 3 Others .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. and Another .....Opposite Party(s) made by the learned counsel for both the parties. 6. The law with regard to quashing of a case on the basis of settlement arrived between the parties, is well settled. 7. In the light of the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in B.S. Joshi and Others Vs. State of Haryana and another, (2003) 4 SCC 675, it has been held that "High Courts have the inherent power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) to quash First Information Reports (FIRs) and criminal proceedings, particularly in matrimonial disputes where a genuine settlement has been reached between the parties. The Court clarified that Section 320 Cr.P.C., which lists compoundable offences, does not restrict this power, and exercising it is crucial for promoting amicable settlements and serving the ends of justice, even if the offences are otherwise non-compoundable." 8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in its Constitutional Bench Judgment in Gian Singh Vs. State of Punjab and Another, (2012)10 SCC 303, has held that "But the criminal cases having overwhelmingly and pre-dominatingly civil flavour stand on different footing for the purposes of quashing, particularly the offences arising from commercial, financial, mercantile, civil, partnership or such like transactions or the offences arising out of matrimony relating to dowry, etc. or the family disputes where the wrong is basically private or personal in nature and the parties have resolved their entire dispute. In this category of cases, High Court may quash criminal proceedings if in its view, because of the compromise between the offender and victim, the possibility of conviction is remote and bleak and continuation of criminal case would put accused to great oppression and prejudice and extreme injustice would be caused to him by not quashing the criminal case despite full and complete settlement and compromise with the victim." 9. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Parbatbhai Ahir alias Parbatbhai Bhimsinhbhai Karmur and others vs. State of Gujarat and another, (2017) 9 SCC 641 has laid down broad principles of quashing the criminal proceedings in exercise of inherent jurisdiction on the ground that "even in the non compoundable cases on the basis of compromise, criminal proceedings can be quashed so that valuable time of the court can be saved and utilized in other material cases." 10. The parties have agreed to withdraw the proceedings pending amongst them in Court concerned. From perusal of the records and the law as cited above, the present case is a good case for exercise of power by the Court to quash summoning order as well as entire proceedings. 11. The dispute appears to be purely of a matrimonial in nature that has been mutually settled between the parties to their entire satisfaction, therefore, no A482 No. 1687 of 2019 2 useful purpose would be served in allowing the prosecution to continue any longer. 12. The present application for quashing filed under Section 528 B.N.S.S. comes within the parameters as laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Pradeep Kumar Kesarwani Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Another, Criminal Appeal No. 3831 of 2025, SLP (Crl.) No. 11642 of 2019 dated 02.09.2025. 13. In view of above, the entire proceedings in Criminal Case No. 1347 of 2018 (State Vs. Laxmi Devi and others) under Sections 498A, 323 IPC and Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act arising out of Case Crime No. 21 of 2018, under Sections 498A, 323, 313, 377, 307 IPC and Section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station-Mahila Thana, District-Aligarh , are hereby quashed. 14. The present application under Section 528 B.N.S.S. is, accordingly, allowed. May 7, 2026 Shivani Sri. A482 No. 1687 of 2019 3 (Nand Prabha Shukla,J.) Digitally signed by :- SHIVANI SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad