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Santosh Yadav & Anr. vs. State of NCT of Delhi & Anr.

Criminal Miscellaneous Case · 2026:DHC:8035Decided 18 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
CRL.M.C. 2201/2026CNR: DLHC010115342026
Justice Girish Kathpalia

Background

The petitioners were named in FIR No. 175/2017 registered at Police Station Welcome for offences of voluntarily causing hurt, house trespass, and criminal intimidation (Sections 323/324/452/506/34 IPC). They approached the High Court seeking to have the FIR quashed on the ground that the complainant (respondent no. 2) had settled the dispute with them.

Decision Breakdown

The State did not object to the quashing, and statements of the parties had already been recorded by the court's Joint Registrar. The complainant, who is himself a practising advocate, appeared before the judge via video conference and personally confirmed in Hindi that he had compromised all disputes with the petitioners and no longer wished to pursue the prosecution. Satisfied that a full trial would serve no purpose given the genuine settlement, the Court quashed the FIR and all proceedings arising from it.

Lesson Learnt

Where a genuine compromise is reached in a case involving non-serious, personal-dispute offences, courts can quash the FIR to spare both sides a lengthy trial, but only after the judge is personally satisfied that the settlement is voluntary and genuine, not merely on paper.

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