2026:CGHC:15001-DB MANPREET KAUR Digitally signed NAFR by MANPREET KAUR Date: 2026.04.02 11:18:20 +0530 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 1301 of 2022 Rajkumar Nishad S/o Kartik Ram Nishad Aged About 27 Years R/o Damkadih, Police Station Magarlod, District Dhamtari Chhattisgarh ... Appellant(s)

versus State of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Station Shobha, District Gariyaband Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

For Appellant(s) : Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Priyank Rathi, Government Advocate Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal , Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice

01.04.2026

1. Heard Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, learned counsel for the appellant.

Also heard Mr. Priyank Rathi, learned Government Advocate for respondent / State.

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 01.07.2022 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge Gariyaband, District- Gariyaband (C.G.) in Session Case No. 18/2018 by which the appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 (two times) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life with fine amount of Rs. 1,000/-, in default of payment of fine additional rigorous imprisonment for 01 year and under Section 201 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo R.I. for 03 years with fine amount of Rs. 1,000/-, in default of payment of fine additional rigorous imprisonment for 01 months.

3. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that the informant Dhannuram Nishad lodged information before the Station House Officer, Police Station- Shobha, stating that his daughter Santoshi had come to village Shobha along with her husband Rajkumar to work as a labourer and was residing there with her minor daughters, namely Gopi aged about three and a half years and Paridhi aged about one and a half years. It was further informed that Santoshi used to work as a brick maker with Ghanshyam Markam, and on 03.04.2017 at about 05:30 PM, Santoshi along with her minor daughter Paridhi went missing from the village. On the basis of the said information, missing reports were registered at Police Station Shobha with respect to Santoshi and minor Paridhi as Missing Persons Case Ex.P-36 and Ex.P-37 respectively.

4. During the course of investigation, the memorandum statement of the accused (Ex.P-01) was recorded on 16.12.2017. Thereafter, requisitions (Ex.P-38 and Ex.P-39) were sent to the Block Medical Officer and Sub-Divisional Officer, Mainpur for conducting exhumation proceedings. Upon completion of the exhumation process, notices (Ex.P-11) were issued to the witnesses and the exhumation panchnama (Ex.P-12) was prepared. On the basis of information received, separate inquest proceedings in respect of the deceased Santoshi and minor Paridhi were conducted, and thereafter a First Information Report (Ex.P-34) was registered against the accused under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, as reflected in Ex.P-40 and Ex.P-41. The investigating agency also prepared the site map of the place of occurrence (Ex.P-35)

and obtained postmortem reports (Ex.P-30 and Ex.P-31).

5. Further during investigation, notices were issued to the witnesses for the purpose of inquest reports (Ex.P-04 and Ex.P-05), and spot panchnama maps of the deceased Santoshi and Paridhi were prepared as Ex.P-06 and Ex.P-07 respectively. During exhumation, clothes of the deceased Santoshi and a leather amulet found on the skeletal remains of Paridhi were seized in presence of witnesses, for which seizure memo (Ex.P-02) was prepared. The skeletal remains were thereafter referred to Jaipur for medical examination, and examination reports (Ex.P-42 and Ex.P-46) in respect of Santoshi and (Ex.P-43 and Ex.P-47) in respect of Paridhi were obtained. A si