CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana HC has ruled that when a dispute is essentially personal in nature and a genuine compromise has been reached, the high court may intervene to quash criminal proceedings, recognising that continuing these would be unproductive and unjust.
HC passed these orders while quashing an FIR registered against a person declared a proclaimed offender in a case against him under Negotiable Instruments Act in which both parties had reached a compromise.
Pointing out that such litigation will have an adverse impact on overburdened court dockets, HC held that allowing such prosecution, when the initial complaint has been settled or withdrawn, would undermine the legislative intent and distort the remedial nature of Sec 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act. It would also contravene the “principles of fairness, proportionality, and justice in criminal proceedings”.
In detailed orders, Justice Sumeet Goel of the HC observed that an FIR in such cases does not become liable to be quashed on its own. The fact of the criminal complaint or FIR being compromised or settled is undoubtedly a relevant factor to be considered while dealing with a plea for quashing an FIR under IPC Sec 174-A (declaring a person a proclaimed offender). “This fact assumes greater significance considering that the initial proceedings pertain exclusively to a private criminal complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act, which the legislature has expressly classified as a compoundable offence,” observed the HC.
Justice Goel passed these orders on Tuesday while hearing a petition filed by Soni Kumar seeking the quashing of an FIR dated March 12, 2023, registered at Longowal police station, Sangrur.
