2025:CGHC:57704-DB NAFR ROHIT KUMAR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CHANDRA Digitally signed CRA No. 1531 of 2024 by ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA Satyanarayan Rajwade @ Sundur S/o Ramjatan Rajwade Aged About 24 Years R/o Village- Lahpatra (Akhra Tikrapara), Police Station-

Lakhanpur, District- Sarguja, C.G.

... Appellant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through - Station House Officer, Police Station-

Lakhanpur, District- Sarguja, C.G.

... Respondent (Cause-title taken from Case Information System)

For Appellant : Mr. Anmol Sharma, Advocate For Respondent/State : Mr. Soumya Rai, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Bibhu Datta Guru , Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice

27 . 11 .202 5

1. This criminal appeal under Section 415 (2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘BNSS’) is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 28.06.2024 passed by the learned 1^st Additional Sessions Judge, Ambikapur, District – Sarguja (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No.49/2022, whereby the learned trial Court has convicted the appellant for offence punishable under Sections 302 of the IPC and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment & fine of Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 03 months.

2. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that complainant Trilochan Rajwade (PW-1) lodged a First Information Report at the Lakhanpur Police Station on 17.11.2021 stating that the his younger brother Ajay Kumar Rajwade had left home on 16.11.2021 at about 15:30 hrs. and had not returned home till evening. His mobile phone was lost on 15.11.2021, due to which his whereabouts were not known. His friend Brijesh, who was in the village, was also not known. On 17.11.2021, at 6 a.m., Punit Rajwade of the village reported that Ajay Rajwade was lying dead and covered in blood on the road near the village hospital in Lapatara. Blood oozed from his ears and nose and was spread on the ground. Upon hearing of the incident, family members, including his father Shivprakash, son Yadaram, and neighbors went to inspect him. He was found murdered by an unknown person by inflicting severe head injuries with a hard object.

3. Trilochan Rajwade (PW-1) reported the matter to Lakhanpur police station, where inquest report Ex.P.-1 was registered and considering the nature of death, FIR Ex.P.-2 was also registered against unknown person under section 302 IPC simultaneously.

4. After summoning the witnesses vide Ex.P-3A, inquest over the dead body of the deceased was prepared vide Ex.P.-3 and the dead body of the deceased was sent to Community Health Centre, Lakhanpur for conducting postmortem of the body vide Ex.P-15, wherein postmortem was conducted by Dr. Sameer Shrivastava (PW-12), who found following injuries :

(i) Bleeding under the scalp on right parietal, temporal and occipital region;

(ii) Multiple fractures on right side of skull on right parietal temporal and occipital region;

(iii) Extradural and subdural hemorrhage over right parieto- temporal occipital region approx 15cm x 10 cm;

and (iv) Diffuse intracerebral hemorrhage on right parieto-

temporal occipital region.

The Doctor opined that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to blunt force head injury most likely and the mode of death is homicidal in nature. The postmortem report is marked as Ex.P-24.

5. During the investigation, Patwari Panchnama of the incident spot Ex.P.-5 and Sight Map Ex.P.-6 were prepared. Plain soil and blood stained soil were recovered from the incident spot in the presence of witnesses Muneshwar Rajwade (PW-3) and Anand Ram Rajwade and seizure memo Ex.P.-10 was prepared. During the investigation, Durga Rajwade (PW-6) of the village informed the Investigating Officer that on the night of the incident, deceased Ajay Rajwade and accused Sundur alias Satyanarayan had come to her house, but she had refused to meet him from inside the house as he was drunk. Then the deceased and the accused and Rampra