St at e v. Sagar Arora and Ot hers

2. Mr. Akshay Lat wal, learned A.G.A. for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand.

3. Mr. Siddhart ha Bankot i, lear ned legal Aid Counsel for t he Respondent No. 2.

4. The present Crim inal Misc. Applicat ion under Sect ion 528 of t he Bharat iya Nagarik Surak sha Sanhit a, 2023 has been filed on behalf of t he Applicant s – Sagar Arora, Jagdish Ar ora sons of Sri Jagdish Arora, Mahim a Arora W/ o Sri Jagdish Arora and Lat a Arora D/ o Jagdish Arora against Respondent No. 2 – Sm t . Priyanka W/ o Sri Sagar Arora, wit h a prayer t o quash t he charge- dat ed

16.03.2024, t he im pugned cognizance/ sum m oning or der dat ed 29.04.2024 and t he ent ire proceedings of Crim inal Case No. 1471 of 2024, “ St at e vs. Sagar Arora and Ot hers” under Sect ions 3/ 4 of Dowry Prohibit ion Act , 1961 and under Sect ions 323, 354, 498A, 504 and 506 I PC, pending befor e t he Cour t of lear ned Judicial Magist rat e/ I st Addit ional Civil Judge, Haldwani.

5. Lear ned counsel for t he Applicant s st at es t hat t he present m at t er ar ises out of a m at rim onial disput e in t he part ies have am icably set t led t heir differ ences and now wish t o com pound t he m at t er. I n t his r egar d, a Com pounding Applicat ion ( I A No. 02 of 2025, Paper No. 65) has been filed, duly signed by t he part ies and endor sed by t heir respect ive counsel—Mr. Deepak Joshi, Advocat e for t he Applicant s, and Mr. Siddhart ha Bankot i, Advocat e for Respondent No. 2.

6. Today, t he m at t er pert ains t o a disput e bet w een t he husband and wife, i.e., Applicant No. 1 and Respondent No. 2. Applicant Nos. 1 and 2 are pr esent in- person before t his Court , while Applicant Nos. 3 and 4 have appear ed t hrough video confer encing. All four Applicant s have been duly ident ified by Mr. Deepak Joshi, Advocat e. Respondent No. 2 is also pr esent in- per son before t his Court and has been duly ident ified by Mr. Siddhart ha Bankot i, Advocat e.

7. Upon int eract ion wit h Applicant No. 1 ( t he husband) and Respondent No. 2 ( t he wife) , bot h part ies expr essed t heir m ut ual consent for divorce, subj ect t o t erm s r egarding cust ody of t he child and t he visit at ion right s of t he non- cust odial par ent .

8. This Court finds sufficient grounds t o allow t he Com pounding Applicat ion.

9. I n light of t he legal principles laid down by t he Hon’ble Apex Court in Gian Singh v s. St at e of Punj ab, ( 2012) 10 SCC 303, and Dim pey Guj ral vs. Union Territ ory of Chandigarh, Transfer Pet it ion ( Crim inal) No. 115 of 2012, decided on 06.12.2012, t his Court holds t hat crim inal proceedings m ay be quashed wher e t he disput e has been am icably resolved bet w een t he part ies and t he set t lem ent prom ot es peace and harm ony.

10. Per cont ra, t he learned St at e Counsel obj ect s t o t he Com pounding Applicat ion on t he ground t hat cert ain offences involved are non- com poundable.

11. Having consider ed t he overall fact s circum st ances of t he case, t his Cour t is of t he view t hat t he ends of j ust ice would be ser ved by quashing t he proceedings of Crim inal Case No. 1471 of 2024, t it led as “ St at e vs. Sagar Arora and Ot hers, under Sect ions 3/ 4 of t he Dow ry Prohibit ion Act , 1961 and Sect ions 323, 354, 498A, 504, and 506 of t he I ndian Penal Code, pending before t he Court of t he learned Judicial Magist rat e/ I st Addit ional Civil Judge, Haldwani.

12. Accordingly, t he Com pounding Applicat ion allowed. The ent ire proceedings of Crim inal Case No. 1471 of 2024, t it led as “ St at e v s. Sagar Arora and Ot her s” , under Sect ions 3/ 4 of t he Dowry Prohibit ion Act , 1961 and Sect ions 323, 354, 498A, 504, and 506 I PC, pending before t he Court of t he learned Judicial Magist rat e/ I st Addit ional Civil Judge, Haldwani, ar e her eby quashed as against t he present Applicant s, subj ect t o t he condit ions m ut ually agreed upon by t he part ies and as m ay be im posed by t he lear ned Trial Court at t he t im e of second m ot ion, specifically relat ing t o ( i) cust ody of t he child and ( ii) visit at ion right s of t he ot her part y.

13. Consequent ly, t he present Crim inal Miscellaneous Applicat ion filed under Sect ion 528 of t he Bharat iya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhit a, 2023 is allowed. ( Ash i sh N a i t h a n i , J.) 0 8 .0 8 .2 0 2 5 Shiksha SHIKSHA BINJOLA DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3410ef86ae41ec9fbabcd5dba6b3a2c24b5aa08b09 c12f21822fbd40bf639b1c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=FD80A2D028949381C52796A542D7FF0A9BE D00E67B5283D205F18FE29BDF5DD9, cn=SHIKSHA BINJOLA