Power Of Compounding Must Be Expressly Conferred By Statute Which Creates Offence
Case: Prakash Gupta vs. Securities and Exchange Board of India
Coram: Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah
Case No: [CrA 569 of 2021]
Court Observation: “The first of these principles is crucial so as to allow for amicable resolution of disputes between parties without the adversarial role of Courts, and also to ease the burden of cases coming before the Courts. However, the second principle is equally important because even an offence committed against a private party may affect the fabric of society at large. Non-prosecution of such an offence may affect the limits of conduct which is acceptable in the society.
The Courts play an important role in setting these limits through their adjudication and by prescribing punishment in proportion to how far away from these limits was the offence which was committed. As such, in deciding on whether to compound an offence, a Court does not just have to understand its effect on the parties before it but also consider the effect it will have on the public. Hence, societal interest in the prosecution of crime which has a wider social dimension must be borne in mind”
“However, Section 320 provides for the compounding of offences only under the IPC. Hence, in respect of offences which lie outside the IPC, compounding may be permitted only if the statute which creates the offence contains an express provision for compounding before such an offence can be made compoundable. The power of compounding must, in other words, be expressly conferred by the statute which creates the offence.”
“The consideration which weighed with the two judge Bench while interpreting the provisions of Section 147 of the NI Act in JIK Industries (supra) will therefore not be ipso facto attracted while construing the provisions of Section 24A of the SEBI Act. Further, since the two statutory provisions are not in pari materia, it is not necessary for this Court to express any opinion on the issue as to whether the judgment in JIK Industries (supra), which is of a two judge Bench, is contrary to the earlier three judge Bench decision in Damodar S Prabhu (supra). We are concerned in the present case with interpreting the provisions of Section 24A of the SEBI Act, and hence it is not necessary for this Court to construe Section 147 of the NI Act.”
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