Nirmaljit Kaur, J.@mdashThis is a petition u/s 482 Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing of the FIR No. 38 dated 25.08.2010 under Sections 406, 498-A IPC registered at Police Station Kabarwala, District Mukatsar and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom on the basis of compromise entered into between the parties.
2. The FIR was registered against the present Petitioners by Respondent No. 2-Navpreet Kaur d/o Jagdish Singh. Notice of motion was issued in this case and the Area Magistrate was directed to send his report with regard to the validity or otherwise of the compromise after recording the statements of all the concerned parties. Accordingly, a report dated 10.11.2010 with regard to the compromise has been received from Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Malout, wherein, it is stated that with the intervention of the respectables and Panchayat of the society, the matter has been compromised. As per the compromise, the complainant Respondent No. 2-Navpreet Kaur does not wish to pursue the above mentioned FIR against the present Petitioners. The present FIR arises out of the matrimonial dispute. The matter having been compromised, it is fit case where there is no impediment in the way of the Court to exercise its inherent powers u/s 482 Cr.P.C for quashing of the FIR.
3. The Full Bench of this Court, in the case of Kulwinder Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab and Anr. 2007(3) RCR 1052 has held that the compromise, in a modern society, is the sine qua non of harmony and orderly behaviour. It is the soul of justice and if the power u/s 482 of the Cr.P.C is used to enhance such a compromise which, in turn, enhances the social amity and reduces friction, then it truly is "finest hour of justice". Disputes which have their genesis not only in matrimonial discord but Ors. as well, such compromise deserves to be accepted. It is further held as under:
The only inevitable conclusion from the above discussion is that there is no statutory bar under the Cr.P.C which can affect the inherent power of this Court u/s 482. Further, the same cannot be limited to matrimonial cases alone and the Court has the wide power to quash the proceedings even in non-compoundable offences notwithstanding the bar u/s 320 of the Cr.P.C in order to prevent the abuse of law and to secure the ends of justice.
4. In the case of
We need to emphasise that it is perhaps advisable that in disputes where the question involved is of a purely personal nature, the court should ordinarily accept the terms of the compromise even in criminal proceedings as keeping the matter alive with no possibility of a result in favour of the prosecution is a luxury which the courts, grossly overburdened as they are, cannot afford and that the time so saved can be utilised in deciding more effective and meaningful litigation. This is a common sense approach to the matter based on ground of realities and bereft of the technicalities of the law.
5. In the present case, the dispute arises out of the matrimonial dispute. The same has been compromised. In view of the settled position of law and the report dated 10.11.2010 sent by Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Malout, it would be just and proper to quash the FIR for peace, harmony and thus allow the parties to move on in life.
6. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No. 38 dated 25.08.2010 under Sections 406, 498-A IPC registered at Police Station Kabarwala, District Mukatsar and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom are hereby quashed in the interest of justice.
