(Prayer: Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023, to call for the records in Crime No.1906 of 2023 on the file of the first respondent and quash the same.)

1. This Criminal Original Petition is filed under Section 528 BNSS, seeking to quash the FIR in Crime No.1906 of 2023 on the file of the first respondent police.

2. The case of the prosecution is that the second respondent/defacto complainant is the tenant of the petitioners. The first petitioner informed the second respondent that the house is required for own purpose, following which, the second respondent shifted to the nearby house. When the balance amount was asked by the second respondent, the first petitioner abused the defacto complainant and his wife and also attacked them and also damaged the defacto complainant's Auto. Based on the complaint, FIR in Crime No.1906 of 2023 came to be registered against the petitioners for the offences under Sections 294(b), 323 and 427 of IPC.

3. Admittedly, the petitioners and the second respondent are residing in the same locality and they have now resolved the dispute amicably. A Joint Compromise Memo dated 12.01.2026 has been filed before this Court.

4. The petitioners and the second respondent / defacto complainant are present before this Court in person and are identified by Mr.A.Gnana Prakash, SSI, Woraiyur Police Station. The defacto complainant has categorically stated that he does not wish to pursue the FIR against the petitioners. This Court is satisfied that the compromise is voluntary and not the result of any coercion or undue influence.

5. The law relating to quashment of criminal proceedings on the basis of compromise between the parties is well settled. In Gian Singh v. State of Punjab1 (1 2012 10 SCC 303), the Hon’ble Supreme Court authoritatively held that the inherent power of the High Court under Section 482 CrPC is of wide amplitude and may be exercised to quash criminal proceedings even in respect of non-compoundable offences, provided the dispute is essentially private in nature and the quashment would secure the ends  of justice. The Court, however, drew a clear distinction between offences arising out of personal or matrimonial disputes, commercial transactions and similar private wrongs, and serious or heinous offences having grave impact on society, holding that the latter category cannot ordinarily be quashed merely on the basis of a settlement.

6. The said principles were succinctly crystallised in Parbatbhai Aahir v. State of Gujarat2 (2(2017) 9 SCC 641), wherein the Supreme Court, after surveying the earlier precedents, laid down broad propositions governing the exercise of inherent jurisdiction on the basis of compromise. It was emphasised that the paramount consideration is whether the continuance of the criminal proceedings would be unfair or contrary to the interests of justice, and whether the dispute predominantly bears a civil or private character, rendering the possibility of conviction remote and bleak.

7. In State of Madhya Pradesh v. Laxmi Narayan3 (3(2019) 5 SCC 688), the Supreme Court reiterated and clarified the limitations on such power, holding that offences of a serious nature, particularly those involving mental depravity, grave violence, or offences against society at large, cannot be quashed on the basis of compromise, even if the parties have amicably settled the dispute. The Court further cautioned that while examining compromise quash petitions, the High Court must consider the nature and gravity of the offence, the conduct of the accused, and the stage of the proceedings, and the overall impact on society and must satisfy itself that the settlement is voluntary and not the result of coercion or undue influence.

8. Applying the aforesaid principles to the facts of the present case, this Court has carefully examined the nature and gravity of the allegations, the relationship between the parties, the conduct of the petitioners, the stage of the proceedings, and the voluntary nature of the compromise.

9. The dispute in question is predominantly private in character and does not involve any offence having serious or grave impact on society at large. In view of the compromise arrived at between the parties, the possibility of conviction is rendered remote and bleak. Continuation of the criminal proceedings would therefore serve no useful purpose and would amount to an abuse of the process of Court.

10. Accordingly, the impugned FIR in Crime No.1906 of 2023 is quashed in entirety and the Criminal Original Petition stands allowed. The petitioners shall deposit a sum of Rs.5000/- each for establishing an E-Library to the credit of the MBHAA, in Indian Bank, Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Branch, Account No.496038755 IFSC No.IDIB000H040, MICR Code: 625019020. The joint compromise memo dated 12.01.2026 shall form part and parcel of this order.