Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court acquitted a man convicted under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the SC/ST Atrocities Act for assaulting a couple in his neighbourhood, by allowing him to settle the dispute with their son after the injured persons passed away during the nearly two-decade-long pendency of the appeal.In 2007, a special court in Bharuch sentenced Chattrsingh Patel to two years in jail for assaulting his neighbours, Gopal Vasava and his wife, Suraj, in a dispute over agricultural activities. He was convicted under Section 324 and 504 of the IPC and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Patel appealed against his conviction. During the pendency of the appeal, Suraj and Gopal passed away in 2008 and 2012, respectively. When the case came up for hearing, Patel’s advocate submitted that the IPC sections invoked in this case were compoundable under Section 320 of the CrPC with a court’s permission. The original complainant and the injured persons had died, and their son, Rajesh Vasava, wanted to settle the dispute and not continue with the grudge of conviction, as Patel and Vasava and his family were neighbours with their agricultural land adjoining each other’s. They were desirous of settling the dispute for peaceful coexistence, the advocate said.It was submitted that Section 320(2) of the CrPC gave power to the person who was hurt to compound the offence with the permission of the court. A settlement deed was produced in which Patel assured that he and his family would not have any dispute in future with regard to agricultural activities of both families. The high court’s permission was sought to compound the offence, and it was urged to acquit Patel. The state govt, however, opposed the request, and its lawyer submitted that, considering the protection of the interests of the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the offence might not be allowed to be settled.After the hearing, the high court granted permission to compound the offence under the provisions of the CrPC and cited various judgments by which the courts quashed the offence under the Atrocities Act. It said, “In view of the settlement arrived at between the parties and considering the ratio, as laid down in the above-mentioned decisions, the appeal is allowed. The judgment of conviction and sentence dated June 8, 2007, passed by the learned Special Judge, Bharuch, in Special Atrocity Case No 13 of 2006 is set aside. The appellant is acquitted of all the charges levelled against him.”
