New Delhi, June 8, 2012(HT): Delhi
High Court in a significant ruling has said that FIRs in certain
criminal cases cannot be quashed immediately even if parties arrive at
an out-of-court compromise.
The court said it needs
to be looked into if the decision would affect the peace and
tranquillity in a particular locality. Justice ML Mehta said discretion
must be exercised while compounding (allowing out of court settlement)
offences which are a menace to residents of a particular area and
embolden the “bad characters” there.
“Crimes are offences
against the society. Its repercussions are inflicted upon every person
who is a part of a civilised society. A settlement arrived between two
parties in a criminal offence cannot become the touchstone for arriving
at the decision of quashing the proceedings in such cases,” Justice
Mehta said.
A FIR quashing a plea was
filed by two “bad characters” in Najafgarh area after they arrived at a
settlement with the victim. They were charged under Sections 323
(voluntarily causing hurt), 336 (act endangering human life) and
452(house trespass) of the Indian Penal Code filed by a property dealer
Kanhiya Lal on May 5, 2012.
Lal alleged the two along
with another person, while they were drunk, came to his office and
entered into an altercation with him. One of them fired at a TV set,
damaging it, while the other hit his head with a beer bottle and
assaulted him. Dismissing the plea to quash the FIR, the court
considered various factors.
The offence, it said, was
serious in nature. The victim had done nothing to provoke them. The
attack was not in self-defence or in the heat of the moment. The
petitioner was the “bad character” of the area and feared by the people
of the locality because of criminal antecedents. There are admittedly as
many as eight FIRs lodged against him, including murder.
