Supreme Court: Quashed High Court order, trial to continue in rape case

The Supreme Court, comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran, set aside the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order that had quashed a criminal complaint alleging rape and offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The apex court ordered that the trial proceed and granted the petitioner anticipatory bail subject to conditions imposed by the trial court.

Petitioner Gopal Lodhi had applied for anticipatory bail after the High Court dismissed the complaint on the basis of a settlement filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a provision that permits compromise in certain offences. The High Court held that the parties’ alleged compromise justified quashing the proceedings, despite the offence being rape, which is non‑compoundable under the statute. The Supreme Court was asked whether Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code permits a court to dismiss non‑compoundable offences solely on the ground of settlement.

The Court distinguished earlier judgments involving purely private or compoundable matters and emphasized that the inherent power under Section 482 is not a substitute for the statutory prohibition on compounding serious offences contained in Section 320. It noted the complainant’s allegation of coercion and held that allowing a settlement to extinguish a rape charge would exceed judicial jurisdiction and defeat the legislative intent to protect victims. Consequently, the High Court’s quashing order was set aside, the trial was ordered to continue, and anticipatory bail was granted with conditions.

Read the judgment and its head note on DLJ: Gopal Lodhi vs State Of M.P (2026 INSC 1164).