ANUPAM GAHOI v. STATE (GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI) AND ANR, 2024 (Del) 826
FACTS: The petitioner, the former husband of the complainant/respondent No. 2, has filed a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, seeking to quash FIR No. 54/2018 dated February 27, 2018. This FIR was registered under Sections 498-A, 406, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, at Police Station North Rohini, Delhi, and also involves allegations under Sections 3 and 4 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
ISSUES: Whether an FIR lodged under the IPC should be quashed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) after July 1, 2024?
OBSERVATION: Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani examined Section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS and noted that proceedings should be continued in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure only for cases that were pending immediately before July 1, 2024. The Court observed that the intent of Parliament in enacting Section 531 of the BNSS was to avoid disrupting ongoing proceedings by
altering the governing law mid-process. Consequently, since the quashing petition was filed after July 1, 2024, it should have been filed under the BNSS. Justice Bhambhani proceeded to quash the FIR concerning the charges under Sections 498-A (cruelty by husband or his relatives), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, following a settlement reached between the parties in March 2021 through mediation before the family court, which included a mutual consent divorce.
