Offences involving forgery and societal impact cannot be quashed based on compromise.

JUDGMENT :

(Rakesh Kainthla, J.)

The petitioner has filed the present petition for quashing FIR No. 72/2019, dated 16.8.2019 for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 403, 407, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of IPC. The matter was compromised between the parties and the statement of the informant was recorded on 11.9.2023, in which he stated that the matter had been compromised with the intervention of respectable persons of the society. The informant has no objection in case the FIR and consequent proceedings arising out of the FIR are quashed.

2. I have heard Mr. Amit Singh Chandel and Mr. Abhinav Mehta, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr Prashant Sen, learned Deputy Advocate General for respondent no.1/State, and Mr Janak Raj, learned counsel for respondent no. 2.

3. Mr. Amit Singh Chandel, learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that since the matter has been compromised between the parties, therefore, the FIR be quashed. He has placed reliance upon the judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Nikhil Merchant Vs. CBI 2008 (9) SCC 677, Gian Singh Vs. State of Punjab 2012 (10) SCC 303, Narinder Singh and others Vs. State of Punjab 2014 (6) SCC 466 and judgments of this Court in Honey Bhatia Vs. State of H.P., Cr.MMO No. 224 of 2017, decided on 27.7.2017 and Rahul Chauhan Vs. State of H.P., Cr.MMO No. 33 of 2012, decided on 23.7.2012.

4. Mr. Prashant Sen, learned Deputy Advocate General submitted that offence punishable under Section 307 of IPC is a heinous offence and FIR should not be quashed.

5. I have given considerable thought to the rival submissions at the bar and have gone through the record carefully.

6. As per the FIR, the informant had booked a vehicle bearing registration no. RJ-04-GB -4692 with 769 boxes of apples on 10.8.2019 to Karad (Maharashtra). The driver disclosed his name as Rama Ram and produced the documents. The driver subsequently switched off his mobile phone. The police conducted the investigation and filed a charge sheet against the petitioner for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of IPC. It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Parbatbhai Aahir v. State of Gujarat, (2017) 9 SCC 641 that where the settlement between the offender and the victim is regarding the offences against the society, the same will not justify the quashing of the FIR. The offences punishable under Sections 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC involve the forgery of the document and such offences cannot be quashed under Section 482 of the IPC. It was observed:-

13. In State of Maharashtra v. Vikram Anantrai Doshi [State of Maharashtra v. Vikram Anantrai Doshi, (2014) 15 SCC 29: (2015) 4 SCC (Cri) 563], a Bench of two learned Judges of this Court explained the earlier decisions and the principles which must govern in deciding whether a criminal proceeding involving a non-compoundable offence should be quashed. In that case, the respondents were alleged to have obtained letters of credit from a bank in favour of fictitious entities. The charge sheet involved the offences under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468 and 471 read with Section 120-B of the Penal Code. Bogus beneficiary companies were alleged to have got them discounted by attaching fabricated bills. Mr Justice Dipak Misra (as the learned Chief Justice then was) emphasised that the case involved an allegation of forgery; hence the Court was not dealing with a simple case where “the accused had borrowed money from a bank, to divert it elsewhere”. The Court held that the manner in which letters of credit were issued and funds were siphoned off had a foundation in criminal law: (SCC p. 42, para 26)

“26. … availing of money from a nationalised bank in the manner, as alleged by the investigating agency, vividly exposits fiscal impurity and, in a way, financial fraud. The modus operandi as narrated in the charge sheet cannot be put in the compartment of an individual or personal wron