Overview

• The nine-judge bench will examine whether Section 528 of the BNSS grants high courts power to quash FIRs under the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act.
• Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal challenged the 1989 Ramlal Yadav full bench ruling that barred FIR quashing under the previous CrPC framework.
• The Allahabad bench deemed the Ramlal Yadav precedent obsolete after Supreme Court rulings in Bhajan Lal (1990) and Neeharika Infrastructure (2021) broadened quashing powers.
• The petitioners are contesting a Chitrakoot CJM order directing police to register FIRs under sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 and 342 of the IPC read with Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
• The Supreme Court’s 2025 Imran Pratapgadhi decision removed any absolute bar on quashing FIRs at early investigation stages, prompting the referral for definitive guidance.