High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 64 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 5716 of 2017 Applicant :- Daulat Singh And 2 Others Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Gaurav Singh Tomar,Rupendra Kumar Mishra,Subhash Gosain Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Manoj Kumar Srivastava Hon'ble Saumitra Dayal Singh,J.
Legal Reasoning
1. Heard Sri Subhash Gosain learned counsel for the applicants, learned AGA for the State and Sri Rupendra Kumar Mishra learned counsel for opposite party No. 2. 2. The present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed with the prayer to quash the entire proceeding of Sessions Trial No. 55 of 2017 (State v. Munna Singh and others), arising out of Case Crime No. 314 of 2016, under Section 323, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(1)(10) of S.C./S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Police Station Madhogarh, District Jalaun, pending in the court of Judicial Magistrate, Konch, District Jalaun on the basis of the compromise. 3. On 16.11.2022, following order had been passed:- "The present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed with the prayer to quash the entire proceeding of Sessions Trial No. 55 of 2017 (State v. Munna Singh and others), arising out of Case Crime No. 314 of 2016, under Section 323, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(1)(10) of S.C./S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Police Station Madhogarh, District Jalaun, on the basis of the compromise. Learned A.G.A. has accepted notice on behalf of opposite party no. 1. Learned counsel appearing for the applicant and the opposite party no. 2 submit that the dispute has been amicably settled between the parties and they have entered into a compromise. A copy of the compromise dated 22.10.2021 has been brought on record as annexure-SCA-1 to the short counter affidavit filed in support of the application. Accordingly, it is provided that the parties, shall appear before the Court concerned along with a copy of this order within two weeks from today and shall be permitted to file an application for verification of the original compromise document. It is expected that the trial Court may fix a short date for verification of the compromise entered into between the parties and pass an appropriate order with respect to the verification within a period of four weeks thereafter. Upon due verification, the Court below may pass appropriate order in that regard and send a report to this Court on or before 25.01.2022. Place this case on 25.01.2022. Till the next date of listing, no coercive action shall be taken against the applicants, in the aforesaid case." 4. In compliance thereto, parties appear to have executed a written settlement dated 22.10.2021. Same is is stated to have been verified by the learned court below on 28.11.2022. Report of the learned court below submitted in that regard dated 28.11.2022 is also on record. 5. In Application U/S 482 No. 17467 of 2022 (Dharamveer And 5 Others Vs. State of U.P. and Another), decided on 02.1.2023, it has been observed as under: "6. From a perusal of the record, it appears, the real dispute between the parties were civil and private in nature and criminal prosecution arose incidentally and not as a natural consequence of the real occurrence. It is further apparent that the parties have entered into a compromise and they further appear to have settled their aforesaid real disputes amicably. The opposite party no. 2, who would be a key prosecution witness, if the trial were to proceed, has declared his unequivocal intent to turn hostile at the trial. In such circumstances, it is apparent that merits and truth apart, the proceedings in trial, if allowed to continue, may largely be a waste of precious time by the learned court below. 7. The court cannot remain oblivious to the hard reality that the facts of the present case and other similar cases present where, though the allegations made in the FIR do appear to contain the ingredients of a criminal offence, however, in view of settlement having been reached, the chances of conviction are not only bleak but, if such trials are allowed to continue along with all other trials that lie piled up practically in all criminal courts in the state, the continuance of trials in cases such as the instant case may only work to the huge disadvantage of other cases where litigants are crying for justice. 8. In normal circumstances, the court would be loathe to accept some of such compromise arrangements. However, that course does not commend to the court in view of the high pendency of criminal cases and the high propensity to lie and state falsehood that appears to be otherwise rampant in the society - where desire to take revenge appears to sometime over shadow the pure pursuit of justice; where winning a legal battle matters more than doing the right thing; where teaching lesson to one's adversary often appears to be the only purpose of instituting a criminal proceeding. 9. Thus, looking at the prevalent tendencies in the society, a more pragmatic, and less technical approach commends to the court - to let some criminal prosecutions such as the present case be dropped, for the sake of more effective, efficient and proper trial in other cases where the litigants appear to be serious about their rights and more consistent in their approach. 10. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties regarding the compromise entered into between the parties and taking all these factors into consideration cumulatively, the compromise between parties be accepted and further taking into account the legal position as laid down by the Apex Court in the case of Narinder Singh & Ors. vs. State of Punjab & Anr. (supra), Yogendra Yadav vs. State of Jharkhand (supra) and Parbatbhai Aahir Vs. State of Gujarat (supra) the entire proceedings of the aforesaid case are hereby quashed. 11. The present 482 Cr.P.C. application thus may be allowed, subject however to payment of cost to be deposited by the parties before the High Court Legal Services Committee, Allahabad, within a period of three weeks from today. Such cost has to be imposed to let the parties (in this case) in particular and the society in general know that the courts cannot remain a mute spectator to unscrupulous and errant behaviour of its members. A society that will allow its members to misuse its courts, will ultimately suffer and pay a huge cost. Litigants, both genuine and bogus, will always continue to stand in a common queue. The courts have no mechanism to pre-identify and distinguish between the genuine and the bogus litigants. That differentiation emerges only after the hearing is concluded in any case, hearing requires time. In fact, even if the courts were to take punitive action against a bogus litigant, then, being bound by rules of procedure and fairness, such cases are likely to require more time to be devoted to them than a case of two genuine litigants." 6. In such circumstances, though no useful purpose would be served in allowing the prosecution to continue any further, however, no firm conclusion may be reached, at this stage, as to complete falsity of the allegations made against the applicants. The present 482 Cr.P.C. application thus stands allowed, subject however to payment of cost Rs. 10,000/- (2,500 on each private party) to be deposited before the High Court Legal Services Committee, Allahabad, within a period of three weeks from today. 7. The Legal Services Committee exists and works for the benefit of those litigants for whom court procedures are difficult to afford. It provides a crucial and essential service to the society itself. It thus appears proper to direct payment of the amount of cost to the Legal Services Committee, as a reminder and warning to the society and its members to introspect and reflect at their actions and deeds and also at the consequences that follow. 8. Subject to the above, the proceeding of Sessions Trial No. 55 of 2017 (State v. Munna Singh and others), arising out of Case Crime No. 314 of 2016, under Section 323, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(1)(10) of S.C./S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Police Station Madhogarh, District Jalaun, pending in the court of Judicial Magistrate, Konch, District Jalaun are quashed so far it relates to the applicants. Order Date :- 25.1.2023 Faraz Digitally signed by :- FARAZ AHMAD High Court of Judicature at Allahabad