In Brief
Appellants were charged under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) following a 1991 dispute over irrigation water in an Uttar Pradesh village. The trial court had summoned them despite police closing the case. Nearly 33 years later, with parties settled through village elders' intervention, appellants sought to quash proceedings. The High Court refused, holding Section 307 cases cannot be compounded. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, clarifying that mere mention of Section 307 does not preclude quashment. Examining actual injuries sustained—a fractured finger bone—the Court found the facts supported at most a Section 326 charge, not attempted murder. Given the settlement, lack of public harm, and futility of further trial, the proceedings were quashed.
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