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Bharti v. State of Haryana and Another

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 509 of 2014)Decided 27 Feb 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 509 of 2014
Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai · Justice Madan B. Lokur

Background

A man was convicted of house trespass and assault on a woman arising from a 2000 incident involving neighbours. The complainant and her husband had maintained from the trial stage that the matter was settled. They confirmed the voluntary compromise again before the Supreme Court after years of peaceful neighbouring relations.

Decision Breakdown

The Court permitted compounding and set aside the convictions, directing release unless the appellant was required elsewhere. Both offences had been compoundable with court permission when committed, although the law had since made the assault offence non-compoundable. The Court stressed the peculiar circumstances: the settlement was longstanding rather than an afterthought, and the complainant consistently supported it without alleged coercion. Its order applied that historical legal position and those particular facts rather than granting a general power to settle later non-compoundable offences.

Lesson Learnt

Whether an offence can be compounded depends on the applicable law and judicial permission. This relief rested on a pre-amendment offence and a consistently maintained voluntary settlement, not simply a later compromise.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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