Court has inherent power to quash criminal proceedings on satisfying itself that the parties want to live peacefully

Uttaranchal High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of V.K. Bisht, J. allowed a criminal miscellaneous petition filed under Section 482 CrPC

Uttaranchal High Court: A Single Judge Bench comprising of V.K. Bisht, J. allowed a criminal miscellaneous petition filed under Section 482 CrPC for quashing of the proceedings pending against the petitioner before the trial court in a criminal case.

The petitioner was booked as a co-accused in a criminal case registered for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 147, 323, 420, 468, 471, 504, 506 IPC. Along with the petition, a joint compounding application was also filed. The compounding application was supported by the affidavits filed by the petitioner-accused and the respondent-complainant. It was stated that the petitioner and the respondent had entered into an amicable settlement, and the respondent did not want to prosecute the case any further.

The High Court noted that the petitioner and the respondent were present in the Court and they were duly identified by their respective counsels. The parties admitted to an amicable settlement. The High Court relied on the Supreme Court decision in Gian Singh v. State of Punjab, (2012) 10 SCC 303, wherein it was held that criminal proceedings can be quashed by the Court, if the Court is satisfied that the matter has been settled between the parties amicably and the parties are interested to restore peace and harmony between them. Having considered the submissions and after going through the entire record, the High Court was satisfied that the parties had settled the dispute amicably. Thus, the Court allowed the petition and quashed the criminal proceedings pending against the petitioner before the trial court. The compounding application was disposed of accordingly. [Dilbagh Singh v. State of Uttarakhand,2018 SCC OnLine Utt 569, dated 19-6-2018]

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