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TMI Blog2023 (10) TMI 345X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n Criminal Appeal No. 32-S/10 of 2012, whereby the judgment of conviction dated 07.03.2012, and order of sentence dated 12.03.2012, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, H.P., in Case No. 690-3 of 2010/09, was affirmed. 2. The brief facts, giving rise to the present petition, can succinctly be summarized as under: 3. The accused-Deepak Verma agreed to sell his bus, bearing registration No. HP-13B-0255, to the complainant, but despite receiving the entire consideration amount, he failed to transfer the ownership of the bus in favour of the complainant. On 17.07.2008, the accused executed an affidavit in favour of the complainant. However, he failed to repay the entire consideration amount to the complainan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt petition, a joint application (Cr.MP No. 3695 of 2023) under Section 147 of the NI Act has been filed by the petitioner-accused and the complainant-respondent seeking permission of this Court to compound the offence by setting-aside the judgment of conviction, dated 07.03.2012, and order of sentence dated 12.03.2012, passed by learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, District Shimla, H.P., in Case No. 690-3 of 2010/09, and affirmed vide judgment dated 24.01.2014, passed by learned Sessions Judge, Shimla, H.P., in Criminal Appeal No. 32-S/10 of 2012. 7. Today, complainant-Smt. Sunita Thakur is present in person before this Court and her statement is separately recorded and placed on the file. 8. In her statement, co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ediment in accepting the prayer made on behalf of the accused-petitioner for compounding of offence while exercising power under Section 147 of the Act as well as in terms of guidelines issued by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Damodar S. Prabhu V. Sayed Babalal H., (2010) 5 SCC 663, wherein the Hon'ble Apex Court has held as under:- "10. At present, we are of course concerned with Section 147 of the Act, which reads as follows:- "147. Offences to be compoundable- Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), every offence punishable under this Act shall be compoundable." At this point, it would be apt to clarify that in view of the non-obstante clause, the compounding of offences under the Negoti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Vs. R. Rajathi; (2010) 15 Supreme Court Cases 352, it has been held by the Hon'ble Apex Court that in view of the provisions contained in Section 147 of the Act read with Section 320 of Cr.P.C., compromise arrived at can be accepted even after recording of the judgment of conviction. The relevant portion of the judgment is reproduced as under:- "6. Thereafter a compromise was entered into and the petitioner claims that he has paid Rs. 4,52,289 to the respondent. In support of this claim, the petitioner has produced an affidavit sworn by him on 1.12.2008. The petitioner has also produced an affidavit sworn by P. Kaliappan, Power of attorney holder of R. Rajathi on 1.12.2008 mentioning that he has received a sum of Rs. 4,52,289 due under t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fore, in view of the detailed discussion made hereinabove as well as law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court, the parties are permitted to get the matter compounded in light of the compromise arrived inter se them. 14. Accordingly, the present matter is ordered to be compounded and the impugned judgment of conviction, dated 07.03.2012, and order of sentence dated 12.03.2012, passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court No. 3, Shimla, District Shimla, H.P., in Case No. 690-3 of 2010/09, and affirmed by learned Sessions Judge Shimla, District Shimla, H.P., vide judgment dated 24.01.2014, in Criminal Appeal No. 32-S/10 of 2012, is quashed and setaside and the petitioner-accused is acquitted of the charge framed against him und ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amount by way of costs. (d) Finally, if the application for compounding is made before the Supreme Court, the figure would increase to 20% of the cheque amount. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25. The graded scheme for imposing costs is a means to encourage compounding at an early stage of litigation. In the status quo, valuable time of the court is spent on the trial of these cases and the parties are not liable to pay any court fee since the proceedings are governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, even though the impact of the offence is largely confined to the private parties. Even though the imposition of costs by the competent court is a matter of discretion, the scale of costs has been suggested in the interest of uniformity. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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