Plea Filed In 2025 To Quash FIR Lodged In 2022 Would Be Governed By BNSS, Not CrPC: Sikkim High Court

The central argument raised against the maintainability of the petition was that the BNSS, which repeals the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), came into force on 01.07.2024, and thus the petition ought to have been filed under Section 482 of the erstwhile CrPC.

Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai, referring to Section 531 of BNSS— which enacts that if any appeal, application, trial, inquiry or investigation is pending when the BNSS comes into force, then such matters shall be disposed of, continued, held or made as per the provisions of CrPC, held,

“The meaning of the sentences needs no further elucidation being self-explanatory. Suffice it to comprehend consequently that, any appeal/application/trial/inquiry/investigation, instituted on or after 01-07-2024, has to be considered in terms of the provisions of the BNSS.”

The Single Judge also referred to Section 4(2) of BNSS which prescribes that all offences under any other law shall be investigated, inquired into, tried, and otherwise dealt with according to the “same provisions”. In light of these provisions, the Court held,

“The wordings (supra) in the provision indicates a reference to the BNSS. There is therefore no error in the Petition having been filed under Section 528 of the BNSS in light of the provisions of Section 4(2) and Section 531 of the BNSS. On the enforcement of the BNSS, all new matters are to be proceeded under the new law, thereby rendering redundant the provisions of Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. for the instant purposes.”

Background

The FIR arose from a land dispute between the petitioners and the two private respondents, who were adjoining landowners sharing a common boundary wall. The FIR alleged that on 13-08-2022, the petitioners and their domestic help trespassed upon the respondents' property, started breaking down the shared wall and also assaulted the Respondents.

Accordingly, the FIR was registered and later a charge-sheet was filed, and charges were subsequently framed under Sections 323, 452, 351, 426, 120B, 34 of IPC, against the petitioners 2 to 7, and additionally Section 354 of IPC against Petitioner 1. However, the parties resolved their land dispute amicably through Compromise Deeds dated 21-12-2024, which culminated in decrees dated 01-02-2025. Following the civil settlement, the parties also executed a Settlement Deed on 04-02-2025, wherein they amicably agreed not to pursue the criminal proceedings further and to to maintain peace and cordial relations.

As some of the IPC offences under which the petitioners were charged were non-compoundable, they filed the application under Section 528 of BNSS and prayed before the Court to exercise its jurisdiction to quash the impugned FIR and the trial pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pakyongto, to secure the ends of justice and prevent abuse of process of the Court.

The Respondents raised no objection to the same as the parties had amicably resolved their private differences which essentially arose out of a civil dispute. However, an issue of maintainability was raised and it was submitted that the petition was filed under Section 528 of BNSS, while it ought to have been filed under Section 482 of CrPC, in view of the fact that BNSS came into force on 01.07.2024, and the impugned FIR was filed on 16.08.2022.

Referring to Sections 531 and 4(2) of BNSS, the Court held,

“...this is a fit case where this Court can exercise its jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS and quash the FIR and the proceedings before the Learned Trial Court.”

The Court also referred to the decisions of the Delhi High Court in Prince vs. State of Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors (2024), and that of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in XXX v. State of U.T. Chandigarh and Another (2024), where a similar issue arose and both the High Courts affirmed that petitions or applications filed after the commencement of BNSS must be instituted under the provisions of BNSS, even if the underlying FIR or proceedings originated prior to that date.

The Court thus quashed the FIR and the trial pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pakyong.

Case Details:

Case Number: Crl.M.C. No.01 of 2025

Case Title: Deepam Pradhan and Others v. Krishna Kumari Bhandari and Others

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