- In the case of Sathish K and ors vs State of Kerala the Hon’ble Karnataka HC has held that the closure of proceedings even if instituted for the offence of rape, can be done on account of a settlement entered into between the parties. The Court, thus, quashed the proceedings pending against 4 persons on the complaint made by a woman of the same family.
- It is worth mentioning that the Hon’ble Karnataka HC had, in 2021, in the case of Anil s/o Venkappa Kushalkar vs State of Karnataka had held that in the case of heinous offences such as rape, even if the parties have settled the dispute, the same cannot be accepted and the proceedings cannot be quashed since it would have a serious impact on the society.
- The Hon’ble Apex Court, in Guan Singh vs State of Punjab and anr (2012) SCC had held that in serious offences such as rape, dacioty etc., or in other offences of mental depravity under IPC or offences involving moral turpitude, the proceedings cannot be quashed, even though the victim or the victim’s family and the offender have settled the dispute, since it would have a serious impact on the society.
- Coming to the facts of the present case, the petitioners had approached the HC seeking to quash the FIR registered against them under sections 376, 384, 504, 506 read with section 34 of IPC. The FIR was registered on 17 February, 2022 for the same.
- During the pendency of the proceedings, the complainant and all the other accused entered into a settlement by way of an affidavit, and produced the same before the Court.
- The Counsel for the petitioners placed reliance on a plethora of judgements in support of his arguments, some of them being Prashant Bhartiya vs State of Delhi (2021), K. Dhandapani vs The State by Inspector of Police (2022), etc.
- The Hon’ble Karnataka HC observed that in view of the judgements rendered by the Apex Court and the various HCs, and also taking into account that the complainant is said to have married and is leading a happy life within the family itself and the accused being members of the same family, it was appropriate to compound the said offences and terminate the proceedings against the petitioners.
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