2026:UHC:3362 SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar’s order with Signatures COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS C528 No.866 of 2026 Hon’ble Alok Mahra, J. Ms. Suraiya Naaz, Advocate for the applicant. Mrs. Pushpa Bhatt, Additional Advocate General and Mr. S.C. Dumka, A.G.A. for the State of Uttarakhand. Mr. Lalit Sharma, Advocate for respondent no.2. 2. Present C-528 application is filed with the prayer to set-aside/quash the judgment & order dated 23.07.2025 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nainital in Criminal Case No.1372 of 2024, whereby applicant has been convicted under Section 354A(1)(i) of I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo rigours imprisonment for a period of two years. 3. An F.I.R. was initially lodged by the complainant against the applicant on 06.06.2020. Pursuant thereto, investigation was conducted and a charge-sheet was submitted against the applicant. The learned Magistrate, after taking cognizance, summoned the applicant and conducted the trial, culminating in the aforesaid conviction and sentence. Against the said judgment, the applicant has already preferred an appeal, which is stated to be pending consideration before the appellate court. 4. During the pendency of the appeal, the present compounding application has been filed on behalf of the parties, stating that they have amicably resolved their disputes and differences. It is further stated that an I.A. No.1 of 2026 has been filed along with an affidavit of the complainant/respondent no.2 affirming the settlement and expressing no objection to the compounding of the matter. 5. Both the applicant and respondent no.2 are present before this Court and have been 2026:UHC:3362 duly identified by their respective learned counsel. Respondent no.2 has stated that both parties are Lecturers in Government Inter Colleges and the F.I.R. was lodged under a misconception and misunderstanding, without any continuing grievance between them. It is also jointly submitted that all disputes have been completely settled and no dispute now survives between the parties. 6. Learned State Counsel has opposed the compounding application on the ground that the offence under Section 354A(1)(i) I.P.C. is non- compoundable and that the conviction is based upon the statement of the prosecutrix. 7. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. The applicant and respondent no.2 are educated persons working as Lecturers. The respondent no.2 has stated before this Court that the F.I.R. was lodged by her under some misconception and she is willing to compound the offence, therefore, in order to secure the ends of justice and to prevent abuse of the process of law, the compounding application deserves to be allowed. 8. Accordingly, the compounding application is allowed. As a consequence, the judgment and order dated 23.07.2025 passed by the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nainital in Criminal Case No.1372 of 2024 is hereby quashed. 9. C-528 application stands disposed of. (Alok Mahra, J.) 04.05.2026 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=eabb68a3895e41937c266c23964c04853654 45e3a20dddb7393398f9fe45ba3e, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=060FC17022BEAE3DE215D68D9D454 C5109CB987446351E4DF04AADAA2C2CEA66, cn=ARPAN JAISWAL Date: 2026.05.04 18:02:09 +05'30'