The Supreme Court has ruled that a sexual harassment case cannot be dismissed on the grounds that the accused and the complainant have reached a mutual compromise. This decision comes after the Court set aside an order by the Rajasthan High Court, which had quashed a sexual harassment case involving a minor following a compromise agreement between the accused and the victim’s family.

The Bench, comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and PV Sanjay Kumar, stated that the Rajasthan High Court’s decision was invalid, and ordered that the First Information Report (FIR) and subsequent criminal proceedings should continue as per legal requirements. While making this ruling, the Supreme Court Bench emphasized that it was not commenting on the merits of the case itself.

The original case concerned a 15-year-old girl whose father filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment. Despite reaching a compromise with the accused, the family later faced a legal challenge to the High Court’s decision to quash the case. The challenge came from a third-party petitioner, Ramji Lal Bairwa, who objected to the dismissal of criminal proceedings, arguing that sexual harassment cases, especially those involving minors, should not be quashed merely on the basis of mutual settlement.

The verdict, which had been reserved since October of the previous year, addressed the legal question of whether a High Court could invoke Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to quash such cases on the grounds of a compromise.

This ruling clarifies that settlements reached between parties cannot override the judicial process in cases involving serious charges like sexual harassment, especially when the victim is a minor. The Court has directed that the proceedings should continue under the law to ensure justice is served.