Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:22582 Court No. - 82 Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 5809 of 2023 Appellant :- Maan Singh And 4 Others Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Appellant :- Shiv Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- Dileep Kumar Shukla,G.A. Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 and learned A.G.A. for the State. 2. The parties before this Court had made a request that they have entered into a compromise in this matter and have settled all the disputes between them and now they do not want to proceed with this matter. 3. A perusal of record shows that by way of present instant criminal appeal legality and validity of the cognizance order dated 27.08.2013 was assailed whereby the present appellants were summoned by the Judicial Magistrate, Charkhari, Mahoba to face trial under sections 323, 504, 506 IPC and section 3(1)10 of SC/ST Act. 4. Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted before this Court that the compromise entered into the parties have been made without any coercion or undue influence upon the informant of this case and it is a result of his free will and consent. 5. The coordinate Bench of this Court passed an order on 04.07.2023 wherein this Court directed "Accordingly, it is directed that informant shall deposit entire amount received from the Government as compensation as prescribed in SC/ST Rules, if any, in Treasury. Thereafter, parties shall appear before the court below along with a certified copy of this order. It is expected that the trial court may fix a date for the verification of the compromise entered into between the parties and pass an appropriate order with respect to the verification within a period of 45 days from today, after ensuring the deposit of entire compensation received by the informant, in Treasury. Upon due verification, the court below shall send a report to this Court along with verified compromise." 6. Subsequently alongwith supplementary affidavit certified copy of compromise deed and the verification order passed thereon were placed before this Court. It was also brought to the notice of this Court that the amount received by the victim as compensation in this case by the State has been returned to the Samaj Kalayan Vibhag and the certified copy of the orders dated 22.08.2023 and 29.08.2023 were also brought on record through a supplementary affidavit but however the report regarding payment to the Government was still missing. However, this Court finds that in the order passed by the learned trial court dated 29.08.2023 it is specifically mentioned that a report regarding deposit of amount by the informant was received from Samaj Kalayan Vibhag. However the compromise deed submitted before the trial court and duly verified by it was also brought on record by way of supplementary affidavit. 7. It appears from perusal of the record that the present case is having a nature of purely private dispute and prima facie it also appears that the alleged offence has not been committed on account of the caste of the victim and except SC/ST Act minor offences have been levelled against the accused. Further, the compromise between the parties is the result of free will and consent of the complainant without any undue influence. 8. Whether a compromise can be verified and accepted in a case relating to an offence under SC/ST Act has been answered in Ramawatar Vs. State of M.P. (2022) 13 SCC 635. Paragraph no. 17 of the said judgment is quoted herein below:- "17. On the other hand, where it appears to the Court that the offence in question, although covered under the SC/ST Act, is primarily private or civil in nature, or where the alleged offence has not been committed on account of the caste of the victim, or where the continuation of the legal proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law, the Court can exercise its powers to quash the proceedings. On similar lines, when considering a prayer for quashing on the basis of a compromise/settlement, if the Court is satisfied that the underlying objective of the Act would not be contravened or diminished even if the felony in question goes unpunished, the mere fact that the offence is covered under a "special statute" would not refrain this Court or the High Court, from exercising their respective powers under Article 142 of the Constitution or Section 482 Cr.P.C." 9. It is further held in paragraph no. 19 of the said judgment which is quoted herein under:- "19. We may hasten to add that in cases such as the present, the Courts ought to be even more vigilant to ensure that the complainant-victim has entered into the compromise on the volition of his/her free will and not on account of any duress. It cannot be understated that since members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe belong to the weaker sections of our country, they are more prone to acts of coercion, and therefore ought to be accorded a higher level of protection. If the Courts find even a hint of compulsion or force, no relief can be given to the accused party. What factors the Courts should consider, would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case" 10. A perusal of the full Bench judgment in Ghulam Rasool Khan And Others vs State Of U.P And Another 2022 (8) ADJ 691 reveals that a matter under the SC/ST Act may be compounded in a criminal appeal under section 14-A(2) of SC/ST Act and there is no need to take recourse of U/s. 482 Cr.P.C. for the same. 11. In view of that this Court finds that since the parties have entered into compromise which has already been verified by the trial court and the compensation amount received by the informant from the Government has already been deposited in the Treasury, now nothing rests in this matter to continue. 12. Hence, the cognizance/summoning order dated 27.08.2013 passed by the Judicial Magistrate, Charkhari, Mahoba in Case No. 443 of 2013 (State Vs. Maan Singh and Others), arising out of Case Crime No. 774 of 2013, under Sections 323, 504, 506 IPC, and Section 3(1)10 of SC/ST Act, at Police Station Kharela, District Mahoba is hereby set aside and resultantly charge-sheet submitted in this matter is also quashed and the present criminal appeal is disposed of in terms of compromise entered into by both the parties. Order Date :- 17.2.2025 Vikram Digitally signed by :- VIKRAM SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad