Punjab-Haryana High Court
Sansar Chand And Others vs State Of Punjab And Another on 14 January, 2013
Author: Mahesh Grover
Bench: Mahesh Grover
CRM no.M-7874 of 2012 (O&M) 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM no.M-7874 of 2012 (O&M)
Decided on : 14-01-2013
Sansar Chand and others
....Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
State of Punjab and another
....Respondents
CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. Sarju Puri, Advocate for the petitioners.
Ms. Rajni Gupta, Addl. AG, Punjab Mr. R.K.Chauhan, Advocate for the respondent no.2. MAHESH GROVER, J The petitioners pray for quashing of criminal complaint no.4 dated 6.6.2007 titled as 'Meena Kumari Vs. Sansar Chand and others' filed under Section 406, 498-A, 506, 120-B IPC and all consequent proceedings arising therefrom on the basis of compromise.
The petitioners are father in law, brothers in law and sisters in law of the complainant - respondent no.2. The dispute arose on account of the marital discord between respondent no.2 and son of petitioner no.1 namely Prem Kumar Mehmi. The marriage took place in the year 2005 which went sour resulting in a spate of litigation inter se between the parties and the present complaint is one of them. FIR no. 27 dated 11.2.2007 was also registered by the present respondent no.2 under the provisions of Section 406, 420, 120-B IPC at P.S. Banga. Two civil suits were filed by her bearing nos.327/2007 and 135/2011 seeking possession of the property. The aforesaid proceedings i.e. FIR no. 27 dated 11.2.2007 CRM no.M-7874 of 2012 (O&M) 2 and the two civil suits mentioned above have since been compromised by the petitioners and respondent no.2. Similarly, the present proceedings arising out of the complaint are also a part of the settlement.
Prem Kumar - husband of respondent no.2 has since expired. As a measure of settlement an amount of ` 6 lakhs has already been paid to respondent no.2 and amount of ` 50,000/- has been paid to respondent no.2 today in Court.
In short the parties pray for quashing of criminal complaint on the basis of settlement and the only impediment seems to be conviction that has already come into existence.
An appeal has been preferred by the present petitioners against the conviction and sentence awarded by the learned Trial Court.
Learned counsel for the petitioners contends that since the entire issue has been settled inter se between the parties, persistence with the remaining litigation which is the case in hand would only result in frustrating the factum of compromise and entire facts have not been disputed by the complainant who is present in Court. She has submitted an affidavit to this effect, which is taken on record.
The Court has evaluated the peculiar circumstances in which the parties have been placed. Husband of the complainant is no longer alive and it would be a travesty of justice if the petitioner no.1 who is an aged person and the other relatives of petitioner no.1 are forced to undergo the rigors of further proceedings before the Appellate Court when the entire issue has been settled between the parties. Accepting the instant petition, therefore, would be a step in restoration of peace and harmony between the parties who have since long been at logger heads. The withdrawal of the CRM no.M-7874 of 2012 (O&M) 3 civil suits and a settlement before the Presiding Officer of Mega Lok Adalat on 17.12.2011 is an assertion of the aspirations of the parties desirous of a settlement and consequently to permit the present proceedings to stay alive is a hurdle in the way of such settlement and would only be defeatist to the cause of justice. This Court, therefore, keeping in view the aforesaid facts and the observations made by the Full Bench in Kulwinder Singh v. State of Punjab reported as 2007(3) Law Herald 2225 and purely in the interest of justice is of the opinion that the petitioners need to be liberated from any further proceedings pursuant to the conviction. Accordingly, present petition is accepted and criminal complaint no.4 dated 6.6.2007 titled as 'Meena Kumari Vs. Sansar Chand and others' filed under Section 406, 498-A, 506, 120-B IPC and all consequent proceedings arising therefrom are quashed.
An amount of ` 50,000/- has been paid to the complainant in Court by way of cheque no.166671 drawn on Punjab and Sind Bank, Mukandpur, District Nawanshahr, which satisfies the entire settlement.
Petition stands allowed.
This order has been passed keeping in view the peculiar circumstances of the case and is not to be construed as a precedent.
January 14, 2013 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge