HP High Court quashes FIR against Former BJP MP’s Son after financial dispute settlement
Shimla, Oct 7,
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR registered against Brijeshwar Kashyap, son of former BJP MP Virender Kashyap, after he and the complainant settled their dispute involving financial transactions and jointly requested an end to the criminal proceedings.
Justice Chirag Bhanu Singh passed the order on October 5 while allowing a petition filed by Kashyap under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking quashing of FIR No. 40 of 2025 registered at the Women Police Station, Solan, under Sections 69 and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Kashyap, who runs a dental clinic in Solan district, had initially challenged the allegations, contending that the accusation of sexual assault based on a promise of marriage was misconceived. He had also submitted that a monetary dispute existed between the parties and that he had been falsely accused of taking Rs 3-4 lakh from the complainant.
During the pendency of the petition, however, the parties entered into a compromise. According to the court order, Kashyap paid Rs 4 lakh through a demand draft to the complainant towards full and final settlement of the monetary dispute.
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Both parties appeared before the High Court and affirmed the compromise, stating that it had been entered into voluntarily and without coercion or undue influence. Their signatures on the compromise deed were also identified before the court.
The court noted that while its inherent powers could be exercised to quash even non-compoundable offences in appropriate cases, such discretion had to be exercised having regard to the nature and gravity of the allegations and their impact on society.
Justice Singh observed that heinous offences involving mental depravity, including murder, rape and dacoity, ordinarily would not fall within the category of cases that could be terminated merely on the basis of a compromise. However, the court found the circumstances of the present case different.
The court noted that both parties were married and had apparently been in a relationship which subsequently turned sour. It further observed that the allegations appeared to have arisen in the backdrop of financial transactions between the parties and that the possibility of the FIR containing an exaggerated or embellished version could not be ruled out.
The court held that, in view of the voluntary settlement and the circumstances of the case, continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
Senior advocate Sudhir Thakur, appearing for Kashyap along with advocate Karun Negi, submitted before the court that the parties had settled the financial transactions and had affirmed the settlement agreement before the court.
Accordingly, the High Court quashed FIR No. 40 of 2025 and all consequential proceedings arising from it.
The order, however, is confined to the facts and circumstances of the particular case and does not amount to a general proposition that allegations under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita can be terminated merely through a private settlement.
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