Case Note & Summary
The petitioner, Balaji, was the sole accused in Crime No.51/2024 registered at Thuvarankurichi Police Station, Trichy District, for offences under Sections 125(a) and 125(b) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The case arose from an accident on 08.03.2024 at about 9:30 p.m., when the petitioner was riding a TVS Sport motorcycle bearing Registration No.TN-81-X-1479 on the Trichy-Madurai National Highway near Athupatti Flyover. He allegedly drove rashly and negligently, lost control, and collided with an iron barricade, causing grievous head injuries to the pillion rider, Rathinam, who later succumbed. The defacto complainant, Ramamoorthi, is the father of the deceased. The petitioner filed a Criminal Original Petition under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), seeking to quash the chargesheet in C.C.No.249 of 2025 pending before the Judicial Magistrate, Manapparai. The parties, who were known to each other, resolved the dispute amicably and filed a Joint Compromise Memo dated 02.01.2026. Both the petitioner and the defacto complainant appeared before the court and were identified by the police. The defacto complainant stated that he did not wish to pursue the FIR. The court, relying on the principles laid down in Gian Singh v. State of Punjab (2012) 10 SCC 303 and Parbatbhai Aahir v. State of Gujarat (2017) 9 SCC 641, held that the inherent power under Section 528 BNSS (analogous to Section 482 CrPC) could be exercised to quash proceedings even for non-compoundable offences if the dispute is essentially private and the compromise is voluntary. The court found that the accident, though resulting in death, was a private dispute between the parties and did not have a grave societal impact. Accordingly, the court quashed the chargesheet in C.C.No.249 of 2025 insofar as the petitioner was concerned, allowing the petition.
Headnote
A) Criminal Procedure - Quashment of Proceedings - Compromise - Non-Compoundable Offences - Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Section 528 - The High Court, exercising inherent powers, quashed chargesheet in a rash driving case where the accused and the defacto complainant (father of the deceased) entered into a compromise. The court held that the dispute was essentially private in nature and the compromise was voluntary, securing the ends of justice. (Paras 3-7) B) Criminal Law - Rash and Negligent Driving - Death by Negligence - Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sections 125(a), 125(b); Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 185 - The petitioner was charged for causing death of a pillion rider by rash and negligent driving. The court noted that the offence, though non-compoundable, arose from a private dispute and could be quashed on settlement. (Paras 2, 7)
Issue of Consideration
Whether criminal proceedings arising out of a road accident resulting in death can be quashed on the basis of a compromise between the accused and the defacto complainant.
Final Decision
The Criminal Original Petition is allowed. The chargesheet in C.C.No.249 of 2025 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate, Manapparai, is quashed insofar as the petitioner is concerned. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
Law Points
- Quashment of criminal proceedings on compromise
- Non-compoundable offences
- Inherent powers of High Court
- Private dispute vs. heinous offences
- Section 528 BNSS
- 2023
