E-Paper
There can be no ‘compromise’ with a dead man: Punjab and Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed a plea from a woman, who had approached the court seeking quashing of a criminal case against her on the basis of a compromise with his husband’s family after he committed suicide
: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday ruled that a compromise between a person accused of abetment of suicide and family members of the deceased can’t be permitted as there can be no “compromise” with a dead man.
The high court dismissed a plea from a woman from Hoshiarpur, who had approached the court seeking quashing of a criminal case against her on the basis of a compromise with his husband’s family after he committed suicide.
The bench of justice Gurvinder Singh Gill observed that an offence under Section 306 IPC (abetment to suicide) is alleged to have been committed which is a heinous offence. “...it is not just... (deceased’s) family who would be the aggrieved, but the offence is broadly committed against the deceased himself. There can be no compromise with the dead man,” the bench recorded, adding that the FIR cannot be quashed on the basis of a compromise.
The FIR in question was registered in June 2021 under Model Town police station of the district by the father of the deceased who stated that his son’s wife would unnecessarily doubt him for having illicit relations outside their marriage on account of which they often used to quarrel.
She also provoked her side of family members against his son. In June 2021, she left the house for her parental home. The complainant’s son contacted his in-laws and requested to meet his wife, but to no avail due to which he became upset and later committed suicide.
The court further added that even if the case is taken up on merits, the allegations of raising false accusations against the character of the deceased by the wife that he was having illicit relations and subsequent quarrels with him on the said grounds would prima-facie attract an offence of abetment to commit suicide.
“Even the relatives had also played a part in the same in as much as they had also been troubling the deceased. There are sufficient allegations in the FIR to constitute the offences. No ground for quashing of FIR either on basis of compromise or even on merits is made out,” the bench said.
