JUDGMENT :

J.B. PARDIWALA, J.

For the convenience of exposition, this judgment is divided into the following parts:-

INDEX

C. CONCLUSION

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal arises from the judgment and order passed by the High Court of Chhattisgarh in Criminal Appeal No. 1538 of 2021 dated 16.01.2025 (hereinafter referred to as “Impugned Judgment”) by which the appeal preferred by the appellant herein against the judgment and order of conviction passed by the Trial Court came to be partly allowed by altering the conviction of the appellant herein from Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, “the IPC”) to Section 304 Part I of the IPC.

A. FACTUAL MATRIX

3. The appellant (original accused) himself lodged a First Information Report (FIR) dated 27.09.2019 with Korba Kotwali Police Station, District Korba, which came to be registered for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC. The FIR reads thus:

“On 27.0