Quashing of FIR under Section 174-A IPC followed settlement and withdrawal of the cheque dishonour complaint.

Where a cheque dishonour complaint under the Negotiable Instruments Act was settled and withdrawn by the complainant bank, the FIR registered under Section 174-A IPC for non-appearance in those proceedings was treated as having no continuing purpose. The petition proceeded on the basis that the bank had no objection to quashing, and the FIR had arisen only after the petitioner was declared a proclaimed offender in the complaint case. In these circumstances, continuation of the criminal proceedings was viewed as an abuse of the process of court, and the FIR along with all consequential proceedings was quashed qua the petitioner.

---

---

Issues: Whether the FIR registered under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the consequential proceedings deserved to be quashed after the underlying complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 had been withdrawn pursuant to settlement.

Analysis: The petition was founded on the fact that the cheque dishonour complaint had been compromised and thereafter withdrawn by the complainant bank, which also expressed no objection to quashing of the FIR. The FIR under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 had been registered only because of the petitioner's non-appearance in the complaint proceedings and the declaration of the petitioner as proclaimed offender. In these circumstances, continuation of the criminal proceedings arising from the FIR was held to serve no useful purpose and to amount to an abuse of process of the court.

Conclusion: The FIR and all consequential proceedings were quashed qua the petitioner.

---