1. Chhatru Ravidas, Aged about 64 years, S/o –Late Shankar Ravidas, 2. Kanwa Devi v. 1. The State of Jharkhand 2. Parwati Devi, aged about 28 years, w/o-Sunil Ravidas
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 1. Chhatru Ravidas, Aged about 64 years, S/o –Late Shankar Ravidas, 2. Kanwa Devi, Aged about -56 years, W/o –Chhatru Ravidas, 3. Anil Das, Aged about 24 years, S/o Chhatru Ravidas All are resident of village –Madangundi, P.O. & P.S. –Chandwara, District -Koderma …... Petitioners Versus 1. The State of Jharkhand 2. Parwati Devi, aged about 28 years, w/o-Sunil Ravidas @ Sunil Kumar Ram, resident of Village-Madangundi, P.O. & P.S.- Chandwara, Dist.-Koderma ….. Opposite Parties For the Petitioner For the State For the O.P. No.2 : Mr. Rakesh Kr. Gupta, Advocate : Mrs. Priya Shrestha, Spl. P.P : Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Advocate P R E S E N T
Legal Reasoning
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY By the Court:- Heard the parties. 2. This Criminal Miscellaneous Petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. with a prayer for quashing the FIR of Chandwara P.S. Case No. 93 of 2020 involving the offence punishable under Sections 341, 342, 323, 325, 307, 506/34 and 498A of Indian Penal Code and under Section 3/4 of D.P. Act. 3. It is jointly submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned counsel for the opposite party no.2 by drawing attention of this Court to the Interlocutory Application No.5516 of 2024 which is supported by separate affidavits of the petitioner Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 1 no.1 and the opposite party no. 2 that therein it has been mentioned that the parties have compromised the matter outside the Court with the help of family members and respected persons of the society. It is further jointly submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the opposite party no.2 that in view of the compromise, the informant is not interested to prosecute the petitioners and the dispute between the parties is basically a marital discord because of incompatibility of mind between the opposite party no.2 and her husband- who is the son petitioner nos. 1 and 2. It is next jointly submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned counsel for the opposite party no.2 that the offence punishable under Section 307 of Indian Penal Code has been made only to make the case a serious one and there is no allegation of any weapon being used by the petitioners or any of the co-accused persons in attempting to murder the victim. Consequent upon the compromise, the FIR of Chandwara P.S. Case No. 93 of 2020 has already been quashed and set aside, in respect of the said son of the petitioner nos. 1 and 2-who is the husband of the opposite party no.2. It is further submitted that in view of the compromise between the parties, the chance of the conviction of the petitioners is remote and bleak therefore, continuation of the criminal proceeding will amount to abuse of the process of the law. Hence, it is submitted that the FIR of Chandwara P.S. Case No. 93 of 2020 be quashed and set aside. Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 2 4. Learned Spl. P.P. submits that State has no serious objection to the prayer for quashing the FIR of Chandwara P.S. Case No. 93 of 2020 in view of the compromise between the parties. 5. Having heard the submissions made at the Bar and after going through the materials available in the record, it is pertinent to mention here that the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Narinder Singh and Others vs. State of Punjab & Another reported in (2014) 6 SCC 466, in paragraph 29, has laid down the principles by which, the high court would be guided in giving adequate treatment to the settlement between the parties, and exercising its power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. while accepting the settlement and quashing the proceedings which, reads as under: “29. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we sum up and lay down the following principles by which the High Court would be guided in giving adequate treatment to the settlement between the parties and exercising its power under Section 482 of the Code while accepting the settlement and quashing the proceedings or refusing to accept the settlement with direction to continue with the criminal proceedings: 29.1. Power conferred under Section 482 of the Code is to be distinguished from the power which lies in the Court to compound the offences under Section 320 of the Code. No doubt, under Section 482 of the Code, the High Court has inherent power to quash the criminal proceedings even in those cases which are not compoundable, where the parties have settled the matter between themselves. However, this power is to be exercised sparingly and with caution. 29.2. When the parties have reached the settlement and on that basis petition for quashing the criminal proceedings is filed, the guiding factor in such cases would be to secure: (i) ends of justice, or (ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any court. While exercising the power the High Court is to form an opinion on either of the aforesaid two objectives. 29.3. Such a power is not to be exercised in those prosecutions which involve heinous and serious offences of mental depravity or offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc. Such offences are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society. Similarly, for the offences alleged to have been committed under special statute like the Prevention of Corruption Act or the offences committed by public servants while working in that capacity are not to be quashed merely on the basis of compromise between the victim and the offender. Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 3 29.4. On the other hand, those criminal cases having overwhelmingly and predominantly civil character, particularly those arising out of commercial transactions or arising out of matrimonial relationship or family disputes should be quashed when the parties have resolved their entire disputes among themselves. 29.5. While exercising its powers, the High Court is to examine as to whether the possibility of conviction is remote and bleak and continuation of criminal cases would put the accused to great oppression and prejudice and extreme injustice would be caused to him by not quashing the criminal cases. 29.6. Offences under Section 307 IPC would fall in the category of heinous and serious offences and therefore are to be generally treated as crime against the society and not against the individual alone. However, the High Court would not rest its decision merely because there is a mention of Section 307 IPC in the FIR or the charge is framed under this provision. It would be open to the High Court to examine as to whether incorporation of Section 307 IPC is there for the sake of it or the prosecution has collected sufficient evidence, which if proved, would lead to proving the charge under Section 307 IPC. For this purpose, it would be open to the High Court to go by the nature of injury sustained, whether such injury is inflicted on the vital/delicate parts of the body, nature of weapons used, etc. Medical report in respect of injuries suffered by the victim can generally be the guiding factor. On the basis of this prima facie analysis, the High Court can examine as to whether there is a strong possibility of conviction or the chances of conviction are remote and bleak. In the former case it can refuse to accept the settlement and quash the criminal proceedings whereas in the latter case it would be permissible for the High Court to accept the plea compounding the offence based on complete settlement between the parties. At this stage, the Court can also be swayed by the fact that the settlement between the parties is going to result in harmony between them which may improve their future relationship. 29.7. While deciding whether to exercise its power under Section 482 of the Code or not, timings of settlement play a crucial role. Those cases where the settlement is arrived at immediately after the alleged commission of offence and the matter is still under investigation, the High Court may be liberal in accepting the settlement to quash the criminal proceedings/investigation. It is because of the reason that at this stage the investigation is still on and even the charge-sheet has not been filed. Likewise, those cases where the charge is framed but the evidence is yet to start or the evidence is still at infancy stage, the High Court can show benevolence in exercising its powers favourably, but after prima facie assessment of the circumstances/material mentioned above. On the other hand, where the prosecution evidence is almost complete or after the conclusion of the evidence the matter is at the stage of argument, normally the High Court should refrain from exercising its power under Section 482 of the Code, as in such cases the trial court would be in a position to decide the case finally on merits and to come to a conclusion as to whether the offence under Section 307 IPC is committed or not. Similarly, in those cases where the conviction is already recorded by the trial court and the matter is at the appellate stage before the High Court, mere compromise between the parties would not be a ground to accept the same resulting in acquittal of the offender who has already been convicted by the trial court. Here charge is proved under Section 307 IPC and conviction is already recorded of a Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 4 heinous crime and, therefore, there is no question of sparing a convict found guilty of such a crime.” (Emphasis supplied) 6. Now coming to the facts of the case, because of marital discord between the husband of the informant-opposite party no.2 and the informant, this case has been instituted. In the facts of the case, the offence punishable under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code is not made out. It is needless to mention here that in view of compromise between the parties, the possibility of conviction of the petitioners is remote and bleak and continuation of the case would put the accused-petitioners to oppression and prejudice and extreme injustice would be caused by not quashing this criminal case and continuation of the criminal proceeding will amount to abuse of the process of law; hence in the interest of the justice, the entire criminal proceeding is quashed qua the petitioners only. 7. Accordingly, the FIR of Chandwara P.S. Case No. 93 of 2020, corresponding to G.R. No.773 of 2020, is quashed and set aside qua the petitioners only. 8.
Decision
In the result, this Criminal Miscellaneous Petition is allowed. 9. Consequently, the interlocutory application no. 5516 of 2024 is disposed of. High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi Dated, the 19th June, 2024 AFR/Sonu-Gunjan/- (Anil Kumar Choudhary, J.) Cr.M.P. No. 3367 of 2023 5