The question that will be answered in this article is whether the criminal proceedings against the husband can be quashed if a settlement agreement has been reached via mediation or if the wife is willing to affirm the compromise in the matrimonial dispute, or not.
A petition under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code 1973 is filed before the Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad for quashing of FIR and criminal proceedings initiated as an outcome thereof.
The High Court has wide powers to exercise its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973. However, these powers are exercised for two purposes, first, to secure the ends of justice, and second, to prevent abuse of the process of the court.
The decision as to whether a complaint or FIR should be quashed on the ground that the offender and the victim have settled the dispute depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. No strait-jacket formula can be laid down for the same.
Criminal cases involving offences that arise from a commercial, financial, mercantile, partnership, or similar transaction with an essentially civil flavor may, in appropriate situations, fall for quashing where parties have settled the dispute.
The High Court takes a lenient view in quashing criminal proceedings in case of matrimonial disputes too. The Court takes into consideration that if chances of an ultimate conviction are bleak and no useful purpose is likely to be served by allowing a criminal prosecution to continue, then while taking into consideration the special facts of a case, it may quash the proceedings.
It becomes the duty of the court to encourage genuine settlements of matrimonial disputes.
The Court encourages settlement by means of mediation at the mediation and conciliation center of the Court in order to encourage the protection of marriage and family as institutions.
The Court, therefore, must refrain from taking a hypertechnical view merely because Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is non-compoundable under Section 320 of Criminal Procedure Code 1973 as it can be counter-productive in the long run.