ORDER :

1. Leave granted.

2. The question involved in the instant appeal is whether in view of the lapse of period of 19 years in litigation as well as the age and conduct of the appellants herein and the compromise entered into amongst the appellants, the complainant and the injured witnesses, the appellants can be permitted to compound the offences punishable under sections 323, 324, and 325 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, the IPC) for which they have been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year on each count. The appellants have also filed a joint petition being Crl. M.P. No. 43053 of 2017 for grant of permission to compound the aforesaid offences.

3. It is relevant to mention here that compounding of an offence is statutorily provided under Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, the Cr. P.C.). If we look at the list of offences which are specified in the Table attached to Section 320 of the Code, it would be clear that there are basically two categories of offences under the provisions of Indian Penal Code (for short, the IPC) which have been made compoundable.

4. There is a category of offence for the compounding of which leave