2026:CGHC:7640 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 793 of 2026 Karan Sahu @ Chhotu S/o Sant Ram Sahu Aged About 22 Years R/o Durgamandir, Kundrapara, Village Tifra, P.S. Sirgitti Distt. Bilaspur Chhattisgarh ... Applicant(s)

Digitally AKHILESH signed by KUMAR AKHILESH DEWANGANKUMAR DEWANGAN versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through S.H.O. Police Station Tarbaahar Distt.

Bilaspur Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

For Applicant(s) : Mr. Nikhil Kumar Pandey, Advocate.

For Respondent(s) : Ms. Sameeksha Gupta, P.L.

Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

Order on Board

11/02/2026

1. This is the first bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) for grant of regular bail to the applicant who has been arrested in connection with Crime No. 360/2024 registered at Police Station Tarbaahar Distt. Bilaspur (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 140, 119, 115(2), 3(5) of BNS.

2. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that on 14.11.2024 at about

04:30 a.m., the complainant Manoj Kumar was proceeding from Bilaspur Railway Station towards Sirgitti. Near Bangla Yard, Tarbahar, the present applicants allegedly came on a motorcycle bearing registration No. CG-10-BR-6095 and forcibly made the complainant sit between them. They allegedly took him towards Sirgitti and demanded money for intoxication and for purchasing a vehicle. Upon the complainant’s refusal, the applicants are alleged to have assaulted him and threatened him with dire consequences, including stabbing him to death, and wrongfully confined him. It is further alleged that under threat, the complainant was compelled to call his family members and falsely inform them that he had met with an accident, pursuant to which an amount of Rs. 3,500/- was transferred online to the mobile number of applicant Nishant Sahu. The complainant is alleged to have remained under the custody of the applicants throughout the day and managed to escape at about 08:00 p.m. near Indra Chowk. Thereafter, he reached Uslapur Railway Station and informed his family members. On the basis of an oral report lodged on 15.11.2024, FIR No. 360/2024 was registered at Police Station Tarbahar under Sections 140, 119, 115(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Adhiniyam, 2023. During investigation, the applicants were arrested and the motorcycle, alleged weapon, and cash amount were seized. After completion of investigation, charge-sheet has been filed and the applicants are presently in judicial custody. Hence, the bail application.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant has not committed any offence and he has been falsely implicated in offence in question. He further submits that the present applicant has been implicated as a co-accused, and no specific overt act of a grave or exceptional nature has been attributed to him so as to distinguish his role from that of the main accused. The allegations against the applicant are omnibus and general in nature, without any specific material indicating his direct involvement in the commission of the alleged offence. He also submits that no Test Identification Parade (TIP) was conducted by the Investigating Agency during the course of investigation. The complainant did not identify the present applicant through any legally recognized identification procedure at any stage prior to filing of the charge- sheet. In the absence of a TIP, any identification of the applicant for the first time before the Court would be a weak piece of evidence and would carry little evidentiary value in the eyes of law. It is well settled that identification in Court without prior TIP is inherently fragile and requires corroboration. The failure of the prosecution to conduct a TIP, particularly when the applicant was not previously known to the complainant, creates a serious doubt regarding his alleged involvement in the offence. The applicant is in jail since 15.11.2024, the applicant has two criminal antecede