Kerala High Court refuses to quash rape case against priest despite settlement with survivor

The Kerala High Court recently refused to quash the proceedings in a rape case against a priest regardless of the settlement between him and the survivor [Fr. Babu Varghese v. State of Kerala & Anr.]..Justice A Badharudeen said that even though the High Court is empowered to exercise its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to quash proceedings even in non-compoundable cases such as rape, it ought to consider whether the offence is heinous or has an impact over the society. "In cases of serious nature which affects the society at large, this Court should not exercise its jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC for quashing the proceedings on the basis of compromise executed between the parties," the Court made it clear.In this case, the Court opined that the prosecution allegations against the priest, Father Babu Varghese, were prima facie well made out.Therefore, it deemed it improper to quash the proceedings against him merely because the matter had been settled with the survivor..The allegation against Fr. Varghese was that he tried to intervene in marital disputes between the survivor and her husband to settle the same, but in fact made it worse. Subsequently, he allegedly forcefully entered the house of the survivor and raped her. He was, therefore, booked for committing offences punishable under Sections 450 (house-trespass to commit an offense that can be punished with life imprisonment) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Fr. Varghese moved the High Court to quash the proceedings against him arguing that the allegations are false and that he had arrived at a settlement with the survivor..However, the Court said that a case of this nature cannot be quashed merely on the ground of settlement and, therefore, dismissed the petition. .Fr. Varghese was represented by advocates S Rajeev, V Vinay, MS Aneer, and Sarath KP. Senior Public Prosecutor Renjit George appeared for the State. Advocate Anand Kalyanakrishnan represented the complainant. .[Read Order]