Delhi HC tells couple to feed underprivileged to quash FIR

The couple undertook to host two community feasts for poor children at Shiv Mandir in Radheypuri – once during Navratri and again during Diwali.

The Delhi High Court has directed a couple to organise a “bhandara”, or community feast, for underprivileged children during Navratri and Diwali, as a condition for quashing a first information report (FIR) lodged against them following a quarrel with their neighbour.

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A bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula, in an order dated September 19 which was released later, observed that allowing the case to proceed would serve no meaningful purpose, amount to a misuse of judicial process, and place an unnecessary burden on the state exchequer.

The FIR, registered in 2020 at Jagatpuri police station, invoked provisions of the Indian Penal Code including criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt, following a complaint by a woman against the couple.

In their petition, the couple asserted that the matter had been amicably settled with the complainant, who also appeared in court and raised no objection to quashing the FIR. She confirmed that the dispute, which arose between neighbours, had been resolved.

The couple, in turn, undertook to host two community feasts for poor children at Shiv Mandir in Radheypuri – once during Navratri and again during Diwali.