Surinder Kour And Others vs State Of Jammu And Kashmir And Others

Tashi Rabstan, J

Petitioners have invoked the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 561-A of Code of Criminal Procedure to quash the FIR No. 69/2019 dated 30.05.2019 registered with Police Station, Poonch for the commission of offence punishable under Section 366/109 RPC, filed by one Harcharan Singh/respondent No. 4 herein.

It is submitted by the parties that the petitioner Nos. 4 and 5, being major, have solemnized marriage with their consent and without any force, however, the respondent No. 4, namely, Harcharan Singh who is father of the petitioner No. 5 was against their marriage and had lodged the FIR No. 69/2019.

Vide order dated 20.08.2019, this Court directed the parties to record their statements before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate Jammu. Accordingly, the contesting parties, i.e., petitioner Nos. 4 and 5 as also the respondent No. 4 got recorded their statements, certified copies whereof are placed on record.

It is stated by respondent No. 4, namely, Harcharan Singh in his statement that he has agreed with the marriage of the petitioner Nos. 4 and 5 and has no objection if the FIR is quashed. Petitioner No. 1 who is present in person submits that she is also not averse to the marriage of the petitioner Nos. 4 and 5 and has also no objection if the FIR is quashed. In addition to statements of the petitioner Nos. 4 and 5, as a proof of identification, xerox copy of their Aadhaar cards have also been obtained, on which they put their signatures.

The Apex Court in case, titled as, Parbatbhai Aahir @ Bhimsinhbhai Karmur and ors vs State of Gujrat and anr, (2017) 9 SCC 641, has observed that "the invocation of the jurisdiction of the High Court to quash a First Information Report or a criminal proceeding on the ground that a settlement has been arrived at between the offender and the victim is not the same as the invocation of jurisdiction for the purpose of compounding an offence. While compounding an offence, the power of the court is governed by the provisions of Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The power to quash under Section 482 is attracted even if the offence is non-compoundable. As distinguished from serious offences, there may be criminal cases which have an overwhelming or predominant element of a civil dispute. They stand on a distinct footing in so far as the exercise of the inherent power to quash is concerned. In such a case, the High Court may quash the criminal proceeding if in view of the compromise between the disputants, the possibility of a conviction is remote and the continuation of a criminal proceeding would cause oppression and prejudice."

The aforesaid judgment directly applies to the present case.

In view of the facts and circumstances of this case and settled law position, this petition is, disposed of, and the FIR No. 69/2019 dated 30.05.2019 registered with Police Station, Poonch is hereby set aside.

Connected CrlM also stands disposed of.