Court No. - 14 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 9358 of 2023 Applicant :- Atul Kumar Trivedi @ Atul Kumar And Others Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home Lko. And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Dhananjai Kumar Tripathi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Dinesh Kumar Shukla Hon'ble Manish Kumar,J. Heard learned counsel for the applicants, learned AGA for the State of U.P. and gone through the record. The present application has been filed by the applicants for the following main relief(s):- "Wherefore it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to quash/set-aside the entire criminal proceeding including summoning order dated 09.11.2022 passed by Civil Judge (J.D.)/F.T.C. (Against Women related crimes), Bahraich in Criminal Case No. 21709/2022 (State Versus Atul Kumar and others), relating to Case Crime No. 328/2022 under section 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and under section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 registered at P.S. Fakharpur, District Bahraich and the charge sheet dated 28.09.2022 submitted by the investigating officer under section 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and under Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, as contained in Annexure no. 1 & 2 to this petition." It appears that on the basis of the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicants, this Court vide its order dated 26.09.2023 referred the matter to Mediation Centre of this Court so as to carve out possibility of amicable settlement of dispute between the parties. The same is quoted hereinbelow:- "Sri Dinesh Kumar Shukla, Advocate has put in appearance by filing Vakalatnama on behalf of opposite party no.2 and the same is taken on record. Heard Sri Dhananjai Kumar Tripathi, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Girijesh Dwivedi, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. Instant application has been filed with the prayer to quash/set-aside the be pleased to entire criminal proceeding including summoning order dated 09.11.2022 passed by Civil Judge (J.D.)/F.T.C. (Against Women related crimes), Bahraich in Criminal Case No. 21709/2022 relating to Case Crime No. 328/2022 under section 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and under section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 registered at P.S. Fakharpur, District Bahraich and the charge sheet dated 28.9.2022 submitted by the investigating officer under section 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and under section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the present matter is arising out of matrimonial dispute between the husband and wife and the parties earlier have entered into compromise, though, the same could not be finalized and there is still possibility of amicable settlement between them therefore, the matter may be referred to the Mediation and Conciliation Centre of this Court. Learned counsel for the State as well as opposite party no. 2 have no objection to the submission aforesaid. In view of the above, it is directed that applicant shall deposit a sum of Rs.15,000/- within two weeks from today with the Mediation Centre of this Court out of which Rs.10,000/- shall be paid to the opposite party no.2, on the date fixed, for her appearance before the Mediation Centre and Rs. 5000/- shall be retained by the Mediation Centre as mediation fee. The matter is remitted to the Mediation Centre with the direction that after deposit of such amount, by the applicant, it shall issue notice to the parties fixing some date for mediation and shall make all possible efforts to conclude the mediation and conciliation proceedings expeditiously, preferably within a period of three months. List after expiry of aforesaid period before the appropriate Bench along with the report of Mediation Centre. Till the next date of listing, further proceedings of the aforementioned Case Crime No. 328 of 2022 as regards the applicant shall remained stayed. It is made clear that in case there occurs default by the applicant either in depositing the amount or in appearing before the Mediation Centre on the date fixed, the interim order shall cease to operate and the Mediation Centre shall immediately communicate with the office which in turn shall list the case within a week before the appropriate Bench for passing orders in the matter. " It also appears that in compliance of order of this Court dated 26.09.2023, the parties have appeared before the Mediation and Conciliation Centre of this Court and have entered into settlement agreement on 27.01.2025. The Mediation and Conciliation Centre has sent its report along with the settlement agreement, which is on the record. Considering the aforesaid as also the submissions made by learned Counsel for the parties as also the observations made by Apex Court in the case of State of Karnataka Vs. L. Muniswamy and Others, 1977 (2) SCC 699; State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal and Others, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335; Prashant Bharti Vs. State (NCT of Delhi), (2013) 9 SCC 293; Rajiv Thapar and Ors. Vs. Madan Lal Kapoor, (2013) 3 SCC 330; Ahmad Ali Quraishi and Ors. Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. (2020) 13 SCC 435, according to which inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. (akin to Section 528 BNSS, 2023) could be exercised to prevent abuse of process of any Court or otherwise to secure ends of justice, as also the observations made by Apex Court in the case of Ramgopal and others Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2022) 14 SCC 531, Gian Singh Vs. State of Punjab [2012 10 SCC 303], Mohd. Ibrahim Vs. State of U.P., 2022 SCC Online ALL 106, Gold Quest International Ltd. Vs. State of Tamilnadu, 2014 (15) SCC 235, B.S. Joshi Vs. State of Haryana, 2003 (4) SCC 675, Jitendra Raghuvanshi Vs. Babita Raghuvanshi, 2013(4) SCC 58, Madhavarao Jiwajirao Scindia Vs. Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre, 1988 1 SCC 692, Nikhil Merchant Vs. C.B.I. and another, 2008(9) SCC 677, Manoj Sharma Vs. State and others, 2008(16) SCC 1, State of M.P. Vs. Laxmi Narayan and others, 2019(5) SCC 688, Narindra Singh and others Vs. State of Punjab and another, (2014) 6 SCC 466, Manoj Kumar and others Vs. State of U.P and others (2008) 8 SCC 781, Union Carbide Corporation and others Vs. Union of India and others (1991) 4 SCC 584, Manohar Lal Sharma Vs. Principal Secretary and others (2014) 2 SCC 532 and Supreme Court Bar Association Vs. Union of India (1998) 4 SCC 409, according to which, in given facts, based upon the settlement between the parties in the mediation proceedings as mentioned above, the criminal proceedings can be quashed, as also the nature of dispute/crime, this Court is of the view that the present application is liable to be allowed as chances of ultimate conviction are extremely bleak and hence no useful purpose would be served by allowing the criminal proceedings to continue. In view of above, the present application is allowed. Consequently, the entire proceeding, quoted above, are hereby quashed as far as it is related to the applicants. Office/Registry is directed to send the copy of this order to the court concerned through email/fax for necessary compliance. Order Date :- 1.5.2025 Nitesh Digitally signed by :- NITESH KUMAR TEWARY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench