Shyamkumar, Dhanapalan and Brahmadathan @ Murugan v. The State of Kerala and Anila

## **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT:** ## **THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K.RAMAKRISHNAN** ## **TUESDAY, THE 1ST DAY OF JULY 2014/10TH ASHADHA, 1936** ## **Crl.MC.No. 3487 of 2014** ## **-----------------------------------** **CMP NO. 2923/2012 OF JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT,THIRUVALLA** **CRIME NO. 611/2012 OF THIRUVALLA POLICE STATION , PATHANAMTITTA** **------------------** ## **PETITIONERS / ACCUSED A1 TO A3 :** **-----------------------------------------------------** **1. SHYAMKUMAR, AGED 36 YEARS, S/O. DHANAPALAN, NADUVILEKKATTU HOUSE, THOTTAPPALLY, PURAKKADU, AMBALAPPUZHA, ALAPPUZHA DISTRICT.** **2. DHANAPALAN, NADUVILEKKATTU HOUSE, THOTTAPPALLY, PURAKKADU, AMBALAPPUZHA, ALAPPUZHA DISTRICT.** **3. BRAHMADATHAN @ MURUGAN, DRIVER, KSRTC, NADUVILEKATTU VEEDU, THOTTAPPALLY MURI, PURAKKAD VILLAGE, AMBALAPPUZHA TALUK, ALAPPUZHA.** ## **BY ADV. SRI.R.T.PRADEEP** ## **RESPONDENTS / STATE AND DEFACTO COMPLAINANT :** **----------------------------------------------------------------------------------** **1. THE STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM.** **2. ANILA, NADUVATHARA HOUSE, OTHARA KIZHAKUMURI, ERAVIPEROOR VILLAGE, THIRUVALLAM TALUK. PIN - 689 101.** - **R1 BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SMT.P.MAYA R2 BY ADV. SRI.S.NIDHEESH** **THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 01-07-2014, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:** Msd. **Crl.MC.No. 3487 of 2014** **----------------------------------** ## **APPENDIX** ## **PETITIONER(S)' ANNEXURES:** **ANNEXURE I : TRUE COPY OF CMP NO. 2923/2012 DATED 23-04-2012 BEFORE JFCM, THIRUVALLA. ANNEXURE II : TRUE COPY OF F.I.R DATED 01-05-2012 IN CRIME NO. 611/2012 OF THIRUVALLA POLICE STATION. ANNEXURE III: TRUE COPY OF SETTLEMENT DATED 07-05-2014 BEFORE FAMILY COURT, THIRUVALLA.** ## **RESPONDENT(S)' ANNEXURES:** ## **NIL** ## **//TRUE COPY//** **P.A.TO JUDGE.** Msd. ## K. RAMAKRISHNAN, J. -----------------------------------------------------------------Criminal M.C. No.3487 of 2014 --------------------------------------------------------------------Dated this the 1[st] day of July, 2014 ## O R D E R This criminal miscellaneous case is filed by the petitioners, who are accused Nos. 1 to 3 in Crime No. 611/2012 of Thiruvalla police station, to quash the proceedings on the basis of settlement under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter called 'the Code'). 2. It is alleged in the petition that, the petitioners were arrayed as accused Nos.1 to 3 in Crime No.611/2012 of Thiruvalla police station. The 2[nd] respondent is the wife of first petitioner and daughter-inlaw of 2[nd] petitioner. After marriage, first petitioner and 2[nd] respondent lived together for some time and thereafter love lost between them, which resulted in their estrangement and living separately. On account of the difference of opinion, several petitions have been filed Crl.M.C.No. 3487/ 2014 2 before the Family Court between them and also a private complaint was filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Thiruvalla, alleging commission of the offence under Section 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code against the petitioners, which was forwarded to the police for investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and on that basis, Crime No.611/2012 of Thiruvalla Police Station was registered. The entire matter has been settled between the parties in court annexed mediation and the parties have decided to withdraw all these cases, including the prosecution initiated at the instance of the 2[nd] respondent. In view of the settlement, there is no possibility of conviction in this case. Since it is in the crime stage and the offence alleged is noncompoundable in nature, neither the police nor the court will drop the proceedings at this stage. So they have no other remedy, except to approach this court, seeking the following relief: Crl.M.C.No. 3487/ 2014 3 “This Hon'ble court may be pleased to quash Annexure-II FIR dated 1.5.2012 in Crime No.611/2012 of Thiruvalla police station and all proceedings pursuant to thereon.” 3. 2[nd] respondent appeared through counsel and submitted that, the entire matter has been settled between the parties in the mediation and she does not want to prosecute the petitioners any longer. The counsel for the petitioner also submitted that, in view of the settlement, there is no possibility of conviction, so he prayed for allowing the application. 4. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the application. 5. It is an admitted fact that, first petitioner is the husband of the 2[nd] respondent and 2[nd] petitioner is the father of the first petitioner and 3[rd] petitioner is the son of brother of the 2[nd] petitioner. It is also an admitted fact that, on the basis of a private complaint filed by the 2[nd] respondent, which was forwarded to the police, Crime No.611/2012 of Thiruvalla police station was registered, Crl.M.C.No. 3487/ 2014 4 against the petitioners, alleging offence under Section 498(A) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. It is also an admitted fact that, there were other litigations also pending between the parties before the Family Court as well. The matter was referred for mediation and in the mediation the entire disputes between the parties have been settled. In view of the settlement, there is no possibility of conviction and even filing a final report, as the defacto-complainant is not likely to co-operate with the investigation as well and even if final report is filed, that will not end in conviction, as they will not support the case of the prosecution. Further it is a family dispute between the parties, which resulted in the registration of crime and that has been settled as well. In such cases, court must always honour such settlement and pendency of cases should not be a hurdle for the same. 6. Further in the decision reported in **Gian Singh v. State of Punjab [2012(4) KLT 108 (SC)]** , it has Crl.M.C.No. 3487/ 2014 5 been held that: “In the case of family disputes arising between the spouses or family members and the dispute is settled between the parties on account of the intervention of mediators and they wanted to have harmony, then court must honour such settlement and even if non-compoundable offence have been alleged, court must invoke the power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to quash the proceedings to promote settlement in family disputes”. 7. In view of the dictum laid down in the above decision and also considering the fact that the case has been registered on the basis of the family dispute, which has been settled between the parties in the mediation and possibility of conviction is remote, this court feels that, it is a fit case where the power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has to be invoked to quash the proceedings in order to promote the settlement and also Crl.M.C.No. 3487/ 2014 6 harmony that has been resulted in two families and pendency of this case should not be a hurdle for the same. So the petition is allowed and further proceedings in Crime No.611/2012 of Thiruvalla police station, as against the petitioners are quashed. Office is directed to communicate this order to the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Thiruvalla, so as to inform to the concerned police station for necessary further action in this regard. With the above direction and observation, this criminal miscellaneous case is disposed of. Sd/- ## K. RAMAKRISHNAN, JUDGE. // True Copy// P.A. to Judge ss