KOCHI: A moral policing case cannot be quashed just because the accused and the complainant have reached an agreement to settle the matter, the Kerala High Court has held. Justice K Haripal made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Muhammed Nazar and nine others, who are accused of moral policing, to quash the case as they had arrived at a settlement with the complainant.
“Petitioners were involved in an act of moral policing. That means this is an offence involving mental depravity. Moreover, the brutal attack unleashed on an unarmed person had caused him serious injuries,” the court held.
The police had registered a case against the petitioners for attacking Sanal on July 23, 2017, at Thalankara old harbour and then on the premises of Malik Dinar Hospital in Kasaragod because he was travelling in a car with a woman from a different community. Senior Public Prosecutor Hrithwik CS argued that the court would be sending a wrong message to the public if such a case is allowed to be quashed. The court observed that proceedings in cases involving serious offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc, or other offences of mental depravity under the Indian Penal Code or offences of moral turpitude under special statutes cannot be quashed on the ground of settlement.
The Supreme Court has laid down guidelines while considering application for quashing proceedings on the ground of settlement, the court said.It noted that the case pertained to the attack by a violent mob on an unarmed person for no reason. A few of the petitioners are fugitives having criminal histrory. In such a circumstance, the alleged settlement reached cannot be considered for quashing the proceedings under section 482 of the CrPC, the court observed.