Srinagar, July 10 -- Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has held that once parties voluntarily settle a cheque dishonour dispute and the criminal court records the compromise and acquits the accused, the proceedings attain finality.

A bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal observed that thereafter, the Magistrate becomes "functus officio" and cannot execute the terms of a private settlement unless the final order itself contains an executable judicial direction.

The court passed the verdict while allowing a petition filed by one Gulzar Ahmad Ganaie, quashing execution proceedings initiated by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Budgam, to enforce a compromise reached in a cheque dishonour case.

Ganaie had challenged the CJM's ord...