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2014 (7) TMI 1345 - SC - Indian LawsOffences punishable Under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 - Compounding of offences - HELD THAT:- Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is non-compoundable. Section 4 of the Dowry Act is also non-compoundable. It is not necessary to state that non-compoundable offences cannot be compounded by a Court. While considering the request for compounding of offences the Court has to strictly follow the mandate of Section 320 of the Code. It is, therefore, not possible to permit compounding of offences Under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Act. However, if there is a genuine compromise between husband and wife, criminal complaints arising out of matrimonial discord can be quashed, even if the offences alleged therein are non-compoundable, because such offences are personal in nature and do not have repercussions on the society unlike heinous offences like murder, rape etc. In this case, the Appellant is convicted Under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo six months imprisonment. He is convicted Under Section 4 of the Dowry Act and sentenced to undergo six months imprisonment. Substantive sentences are to run concurrently. Even though the Appellant and Respondent No. 2-wife have arrived at a compromise, the order of conviction cannot be quashed on that ground because the offences involved are non-compoundable. However, in such a situation if the court feels that the parties have a real desire to bury the hatchet in the interest of peace, it can reduce the sentence of the accused to the sentence already undergone - sentence of the Appellant can be reduced to sentence already undergone by him. Whether a case for reduction of sentence is made out particularly when the Appellant has undergone only seven days sentence out of six months sentence imposed on him? - HELD THAT:- The Appellant has offered to pay a sum of ₹ 2,50,000/- to Respondent No. 2-wife as compensation. A demand draft drawn in the name of Respondent No. 2 is brought to the Court. As directed by us even litigation costs of ₹ 25,000/- has been deposited by the Appellant in the Court. Respondent No. 2-wife has appeared in this Court on more than one occasion and requested this Court to take compromise into consideration and pass appropriate orders - the trial court had acquitted the Appellant. Though the Sessions Court reversed the order and convicted the Appellant for two years, the High Court reduced the sentence to six months. The Appellant and Respondent No. 2 were married in 2007. About seven years have gone by. Considering all these circumstances, in the interest of peace and amity, the Appellant's sentence must be reduced to sentence already undergone by him. The conviction of the Appellant Under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and Under Section 4 of the Dowry Act is maintained but the sentence awarded to the Appellant is reduced to sentence already undergone by him, subject to the condition that the Appellant pays a sum of ₹ 2,50,000/- to Respondent No. 2-wife as compensation - Appeal allowed in part.
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