Compromise cannot quash non-compoundable criminal proceedings where allegations include conspiracy, forged documents and criminal misuse of property.

Criminal proceedings for non-compoundable offences may be quashed on compromise only in exceptional cases where the Supreme Court or High Court uses inherent jurisdiction to prevent abuse of process and secure the ends of justice. That power is to be exercised sparingly, and only where settlement shows continuation of prosecution would be futile. Here, the allegations were not confined to a civil dispute with criminal overtones; they included a larger criminal conspiracy, use of property without proper title as collateral security, and forged documents. The compromise with the banks did not remove the criminal element, so quashing was refused.

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Issues: Whether criminal proceedings for non-compoundable offences could be quashed on the basis of compromise between the accused and the complainant in the facts of the case.

Analysis: The governing principle recognised in the earlier decisions was that the Supreme Court and the High Court may, in appropriate cases, use their extraordinary or inherent jurisdiction to prevent abuse of process and to secure the ends of justice, even where the offence is not compoundable. That power, however, is to be exercised sparingly and only where the facts show that continuance of the prosecution would be futile after settlement between the parties. The present matter was found to be materially different from the cases relied upon by the petitioners because the allegations were not confined to a civil dispute with criminal overtones. The complaint involved a larger criminal conspiracy and the use of property lacking proper title as collateral security, together with allegations of forged documents. In that setting, the compromise with the banks did not eliminate the criminal element or justify quashing of the prosecution.

Conclusion: The request to quash the criminal proceedings was rejected, and the petitioners were not entitled to relief.

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