2026:CGHC:16805-DB NAFR ROHIT KUMAR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CHANDRA Digitally CRA No. 452 of 2023 signed by ROHIT KUMAR CHANDRA Mahatma Yadav S/o Jangali Yadav Aged About 33 Years R/o Village Hariharpur, Police Station Ramchandrapur, District Balrampur-

Ramanujganj (Chhattisgarh)

... Appellant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Station Ramchandrapur District Balrampur-Ramanujganj (Chhattisgarh)

... Respondent For Appellant : Mr. Shailendra Dubey, Advocate For Respondent/State : Mr. Priyank Rathi, Govt. Advocate Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal , Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice

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1. Heard Mr. Shailendra Dubey, learned counsel for the appellant as well as Mr. Priyank Rathi, learned Government Advocate, appearing for the appellant.

2. This criminal appeal filed by the appellant/accused under Section

374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, ‘Cr.P.C.’) is directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 23.01.2023 passed by the learned First Additional District & Sessions Judge, Ramanujganj, District –

Balrampur-Ramanujganj (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 102 of 2020, whereby the appellant/accused has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and fine of Rs.500/-, in default of payment of fine, additional RI for 30 days.

3. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that the complainant, Smt.

Anita Yadav (PW-1), appeared at Police Station Ramchandrapur and lodged a written report against the accused stating that on the date of the incident, she was plastering (coating) her parental house when the accused arrived there driving a pickup vehicle. The accused began abusing her over the issue of moving/storing firewood inside the house. At that time, her father (the deceased) came to the spot and tried to restrain the accused. Thereupon, the accused started the pickup vehicle and intentionally hit the deceased and drove the vehicle over him, causing serious injuries. The injured was taken to Ramanujganj for treatment and thereafter was undergoing treatment at Ranchi, but he succumbed to his injuries about nine days after the incident. On the basis of the information given by the complainant, a merg intimation (death report) bearing No. 04/2020 was registered, and subsequently, upon lodging of the First Information Report, Crime No. 07/2020 was registered at Police Station Ramchandrapur against the accused Mahatma Yadav under Section 302 of IPC.

4. During the course of investigation, the Investigating Officer, Sub-

Inspector N.K. Painkra (PW-10), visited the place of occurrence on 03.03.2020 and prepared a spot map (Nazri Naksha) as per the statement of Anita Yadav. For preparation of the Patwari map, a requisition was sent to the Tehsildar, Ramanujganj, and accordingly, the Patwari prepared the map in the presence of witnesses. Notices were issued to witnesses for inquest proceedings, and a Panchnama of the dead body was prepared in their presence. The dead body was sent to Community Health Centre, Ramanujganj for postmortem examination, and the postmortem report was provided by Dr. Sharad Kumar Gupta (PW-12). After the postmortem, the body was handed over to the relatives of the deceased as per customary rites. The constable Manohar Lakra, who facilitated the postmortem and handing over of the body, was issued a duty certificate. The vehicle used in the offence, i.e., a white passenger pickup bearing registration No. JH-03 B-7201 along with its documents, was seized from Musawwar Hussain of Village Kalikapur in the presence of witnesses. During investigation, the statement of witness Mathura Vishwakarma (PW-4) was recorded. On finding sufficient evidence against the accused, he was arrested on 04.03.2020 in the presence of witnesses, and intimation of his arrest was given to his family m