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

FIR under Section 174-A IPC and the proclamation order were treated as unsustainable where the underlying Section 138 NI Act complaint had been compromised and withdrawn. The record showed that the petitioner had not been duly served, later appeared and obtained bail, and the cheque amount was paid pursuant to compromise. Since the proclamation order stemmed solely from the cheque dishonour proceedings, continuation of the criminal proceedings was considered an abuse of process. The petition was allowed and the FIR, proclamation order, and all consequential proceedings were quashed.

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Issues: Whether FIR registered under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the order declaring the petitioner a proclaimed person could be quashed where the proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 had been compromised and the complaint had been withdrawn.

Analysis: The petitioner was found not to have been duly served in the proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The record showed that the petitioner later appeared in those proceedings, obtained bail, and the cheque amount had been paid pursuant to a compromise. The complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 had already been dismissed as withdrawn. In these circumstances, the FIR under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 arose only from the proclamation order passed in the cheque dishonour proceedings, and continuation of the criminal proceedings was treated as an abuse of process.

Conclusion: The petition was allowed and the FIR, the proclamation order, and all consequential proceedings were quashed and set aside.

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