The Supreme Court on Friday directed that an FIR under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) cannot be quashed under Section 482 CrPC on the basis of settlements between the accused and the victims. The bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian said that “abetment of suicide” also falls in the category of heinous and serious offences and are to be treated as crime against society and not against the individual alone.
“Heinous or serious crimes, which are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society, cannot be quashed on the basis of a compromise between the offender and the complainant and/or the victims,” the bench said rejecting a patch up between an accused and the victim’s relatives.
The apex court’s observation came on the appeal against the Gujarat High Court verdict quashing the FIR against the accused citing a settlement with the victim’s cousin, who was the complainant in the case.
The FIR was registered against the accused for cheating the victim of more than `2.35 crore, leading to his suicide. The victim’s wife Daxaben approached the apex court against the High Court’s order and the rejection of her recalling the HC judgment.
“Orders quashing the FIR’s and/complaints relating to grave and serious offences only on a basis of an agreement with the complainant, would set a dangerous precedent, where complaints would be lodged for oblique reasons, with a view to extract money from the accused.
Furthermore, the financially strong offenders would go scot free, even in cases of grave and serious offences such as murder, rape, bride burning, etc, buying off informants/complainants and settling with them,” said the apex court’s order quashing the HC’s order.