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REPORTABLE

2026 INSC 1198 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 5171/2026 (@Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.)

No.13889/2026)

MATIN SHANKARRAO BHOSALE & ANR ….Appellant(s)

VERSUS STATE OF MAHARASHTRA & ANR …Respondent(s)

O R D E R

J.B. PARDIWALA, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal arises from the judgment and order passed by the High Court dated 25th February, 2026 in Criminal Application No. 239 of 2021, by which the application preferred by the appellants before us seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings, arising out of the First Information Report bearing No. 39 of 2020, and the consequent proceeding arising out of the same bearing Chargesheet No. 15 of 2020 came to be rejected.

3. It appears from the materials on record that the two appellants before us are sought to be prosecuted for the offence punishable under Section 304 read with Section Signature Not Verified Digitally s3igned4 by of the Indian Penal Code (for short, "the IPC").

VISHAL ANAND Date: 2026.11.05 Reason:

4. The Respondent No. 2 before us is the de facto complainant, father of the deceased.

5. We take notice of the fact that the Respondent No.2, although served with the notice issued by this Court, yet has chosen not to remain present before this Court, either in person or through an advocate, and oppose this appeal.

6. The Respondent No.2, father of the deceased, lodged a First Information Report dated 19th February, 2020 with Mangrul Chawala Police Station, District Amravati.

7. The FIR reads thus:

“Complaint, Police Station, Mangrul Chavala dt 19/02/2020, named Sajilal Shyamlal Belsare, Occupation, Labourer, Caste Korku, Education 8th class, address: Village Motha, Tq. Chikhaldara, Dist. Amravati. I have come to the Police Station and I give my oral statement as under, reside with my family at the above mentioned address and I have been working as a labourer, I have three sons and two daughters, my daughter of three number Ku. Bharati Belsare, aged 12 yrs. is studying in 7th Standard in Prashnachinha Adivasi Ashram Shala, Mangrul Chavala and she is residing in the hostel.) I was working at the Brick Furnace of Sabir bhai, Achalpur as a labourer then on dtd. 15/02/2020 at about 5:30 p.m. Mr. Deshmukh the teacher of Prashnachinha Adivasi Ashram Shala, Mangrul Chavala came at Isegaon, Brick Furnace in a big four wheeler and it was told to me by him that my daughter is seek and therefore he requested me to come with him to see my daughter, then I gave the information to the owner of the Brick Furnace Mr. Sabir bhai on telephone and I, with my wife in a vehicle with Mr. Deshmukh Sir reached at Irwin Hospital and then we were taken to the postmortem room, there we got the information that the pillar of cement and bricks collapse upon my daughter Ku. Bharati and other girls of the Ashram Shala and these girls are injured and my daughter died during the medical treatment.

And therefore the entered into the postmortem room and we saw there was head injury to my daughter and the medical treatment is going on other injured girls and therefore we entered into the postmortem room, we found head injury to her and she was died. The director of the hostel and the director of Prashnachinha Adivasi Ashram Shala, Mangrul Chavala Mr. Matin Bhosale deliberately made the kaccha and standardless construction of pillar and Matin Bhosale and the Superintendent of the hostel did not take the precautions while constructing the said pillar and because of their carelessness the pillar of bricks and cement collapse upon my daughter Ku. Bharati, she injured and she died during the medical treatment.

The funeral programme of my deceased daughter is over and therefore I have come to Police Station to lodge a Police complaint against them. This is my complaint and it has been typed as per my suggestions and the print of the complaint read over to me, the complaint is correct.”

8. Thus, the plain reading of the Firs