2026:UHC:1135 SL. No. Dat e Office Not es, r epor t s, or der s or pr oceedin gs or dir ect ion s an d Regist r ar ’s or der w it h Sign at u r es COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS C528 No.253 of 2026 Hon ’ble Alok Mah r a, J. Mr. Prince Chauhan, Advocate for the applicant. Mr. Pradeep Lohani, Brief Holder for the State of Uttarakhand. Mr. Shariq Khurshid, Advocate for respondent no.2. 2. This criminal miscellaneous application has been preferred by the applicants seeking quashing of the charge-sheet dated 12.12.2023, cognizance/ summoning order dated 04.12.2025 as well as the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 7864 of 2025, pending before the learned Judicial Magistrate-I, Dehradun. 3. Parties appeared before this Court, who are duly identified by their respective counsel. Parties have also filed their respective affidavits stating the facts of compromise between them. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the parties have been living separately and have jointly instituted a petition seeking dissolution of marriage by mutual consent under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act before the learned Principal District Judge, Family Court, Gurugram. It is submitted that the first motion in the said proceedings has already been recorded and the parties have amicably resolved all their inter se disputes, including an unequivocal agreement to withdraw all pending cases and complaints instituted against each 2026:UHC:1135 other. The matter is now listed for recording of the second motion on 13.04.2026. Learned counsel contends that, in the aforesaid circumstances, the continuation of the present criminal proceedings would be wholly unwarranted, would amount to an abuse of the process of law, and would serve no useful or fruitful purpose. It is further argued that the dispute between the parties is purely matrimonial in nature and that the criminal proceedings are merely a fallout of matrimonial discord, which now stands amicably resolved. 5. This Court has given its thoughtful consideration to the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and has carefully perused the material available on record. It is evident that the parties have voluntarily entered into a settlement and have already taken substantive steps towards severance of their marital relationship by filing a joint petition under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, wherein the first motion has been duly completed. The settlement arrived at between the parties appears to be bona fide, voluntary, and free from any coercion or undue influence. In such circumstances, this Court is of the considered view that the continuation of the criminal proceedings would not advance the cause of justice and would only result in unnecessary harassment and oppression to the applicant. Once the matrimonial dispute itself has been amicably settled and the parties have agreed to put an end to all litigations arising therefrom, the substratum of the criminal case stands substantially eroded. The likelihood of conviction, in the facts and circumstances of the present case, appears to be remote and 2026:UHC:1135 bleak. Permitting the prosecution to continue would, therefore, amount to misuse and abuse of the process of the Court. 6. This Court is also mindful of the settled legal position that criminal proceedings arising out of matrimonial disputes, which are essentially private in nature and have been amicably resolved between the parties, ought not to be allowed to linger so as to perpetuate acrimony and hardship. Ends of justice would be better served by bringing quietus to the litigation rather than allowing the parties to remain entangled in avoidable criminal proceedings despite having resolved their differences. 7. In such view of the matter, this Court deems it fit and proper to quash the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 7864 of 2025, pending in the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate-I, Dehradun. 8. Accordingly, the criminal miscellaneous application is allowed and the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 7864 of 2025, pending in the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate-I, Dehradun, are hereby quashed. ( Alok Mah r a, J.) 20.02.2026 Arpan ARPAN JAISWAL Digitally signed by ARPAN JAISWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c0485365445e3a20dddb7393398 f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454C5109CB987446351E4 DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL Date: 2026.02.20 13:44:31 +05'30' 2026:UHC:1135