Digitally

2026:CGHC:414-DB SAIFAN signed by KHAN SAIFAN KHAN AFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Criminal Appeal No. 617 of 2016 [Arising out of judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated

06.04.2016, passed in Sessions Trial No.10 of 2014 (State of Chhattisgarh v. Bhuvan Lal and 06 others) by the 9^th Addl. Sessions Judge, Raipur (CG)]

Balak Das @ Bhuru S/o Shri Bhuwan Aged About 26 Years R/o Satnami Para, Behind Vyayaam Shaala, Gudhiyari, Raipur Chhattisgarh ... Appellant/

(On Bail)

Versus State of Chhattisgarh, through District Magistrate, Raipur Chhattisgarh ... Respondent [Cause-title taken from Case Information System (CIS)]

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For Appellant : Mr. Maneesh Sharma, Advocate For Respondent-State : Mr. Rahul Tamaskar, Govt. Advocate -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Division Bench Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal and Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal Judgment on Board (05.01.2026)

Sanjay K. Agrawal, J (1) Invoking criminal appellate jurisdiction of this Court, the sole appellant herein has preferred this criminal appeal under Section 374(2) of Cr.P.C., calling in question the legality, validity and correctness of the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 06.04.2016, passed in Sessions Trial No.10 of 2014 (State of Chhattisgarh v. Bhuvan Lal and 06 others) by the 9^th Addl. Sessions Judge, Raipur (CG), whereby he has been convicted for offence under Section 302 of IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life with fine of Rs.1,000/- and, in default of payment of fine, sentenced to undergo additional rigorous imprisonment for 06 months.

(2) The case of the prosecution, in short, is that on 04.11.2013, at about 09:00 PM, at Mukaam-Gudiyari, Satnami Para, Near Old Jaitkham, which comes within the ambit of Police Station Gudhiyari, District Raipur (CG), the accused-appellant herein alongwith other 06 acquitted co-accused, in furtherance of their common object, assaulted Nitesh Bharti (PW-05), Krishna Kumar (PW-06), Purushottam Baghel (PW-07), Shiv Kumar (PW-08) and Manoj (hereinafter referred to as the “deceased”) by means of wooden sticks, due to which, deceased- Manoj suffered grievous injuries and died, whereas Nitesh Bharti (PW-05), Krishna Kumar (PW-06), Purushottam Baghel (PW-07) and Shiv Kumar (PW-08) suffered simple injuries and, thereby, said to have committed the aforesaid offence.

(3) It is further case of the prosecution that when the aforesaid incident was reported to the police by Smt. Vimla (PW-01), merg intimation (Ex.P/16) and FIR (Ex.P/01) were registered and wheels of investigation started running, in which, summons under Section 175 of CrPC were sent vide Ex.P/04 and inquest proceedings were conducted vide Ex.P/05. Nazari Naksha was also prepared vide Ex.P/03. The dead-body of the deceased was sent for postmortem examination, which was conducted by Dr. R.K. Singh (PW-13) and, as per PM report (Ex.P/14), it has been opined that cause of death is cardio-respiratory failure due to head injury and its complications. The appellant-accused was arrested vide Ex.P/26 and his memorandum statement was recorded vide Ex.P/09. Pursuant to the memorandum statement of the appellant, weapon of the offence i.e. wooden stick has been seized vide Ex.P/10. Injured witnesses were medically examined and their MLC reports are Ex.P/17 to Ex.P/19 & Ex.P/34. After statements of witnesses were recorded and due investigation, the police filed charge-sheet against the appellants and other acquitted accused persons in the competent criminal court having jurisdiction and, thereafter, the case was committed to the Court of Sessions for hearing and trial in accordance with law, in which the appellant/accused abjured his guilt and entered into defence by stating that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated.

(4) The prosecution in order to pro