Chattisgarh High Court
State Of Chhattisgarh vs Chhin @ Pintu @ Pratham Yadav on 25 March, 2026
Author: Ramesh Sinha
Bench: Ramesh Sinha
1
2026:CGHC:14290-DB
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
CRMP No. 742 of 2026
State Of Chhattisgarh Through- The Station House Officer, Police
Station- Basantpur, District- Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
MANPREET
KAUR
Digitally signed
... Petitioner(s)
by MANPREET
KAUR
Date: 2026.03.27
11:44:28 +0530
versus
1 - Chhin @ Pintu @ Pratham Yadav S/o Mohan Yadav Aged About 20
Years R/o Jaldhara Chowk, Basantpur, Thana Basantpur, Distt.-
Rajnandgaon, C.G.
2 - Nanu @ Kameshwar Yadav S/o Arjun Yadav Aged About 22 Years
R/o Jaldhara Chowk, Basantpur, Thana Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon
(C.G.)
3 - Vikas Das Vaishnav @ Chinna S/o Late Ramnarayan Vaishnav Aged
About 21 Years R/o Chandra Colony (Rented, Name Of The Owner Of
The House- Dr. Sharma, Thana- Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon, C.G.
4 - Sanjay Yadav @ Sanju S/o Late Shankar Yadav Aged About 22
Years R/o Rajiv Nagar, Ward No. 42, Basantpur, Thana Basantpur,
Rajnandgaon, C.G.
5 - Amit Nikose S/o Kailash Nikose Aged About 21 Years R/o Near
Firantin Mandir, Ward No. 42, Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon, C.G.
6 - Aman Nikose S/o Kailash Nikose Aged About 20 Years R/o Near
Firantin Mandir, Ward No. 42, Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon, C.G.
7 - Sahil Khobragadhe S/o Punamchand Khobragadhe Aged About 21
Years R/o Ward No. 42, Basantpur, Near Sharda Mandir, Thana-
Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon, C.G.
2
8 - Avinash Sinde S/o Jhaman Sinde Aged About 24 Years R/o Near
Firantin Mandir, Ward No. 42, Basantpur, Distt.- Rajnandgaon, (C.G.)
... Respondent(s)
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Priyank Rathi, Government Advocate Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 25.03.2026
1. I.A. No.01/2026 is an application for condonation of delay in filing the petition. As another appeal has been filed by the complainant bearing ACQA No. 8/2026 challenging the order of acquittal and the same is within time and is admitted today for hearing, we deem it appropriate to condone the delay in filing the present petition as well.
2. Accordingly, I.A. No.01/2026 stands allowed and the matter is taken up for hearing.
3. By way of the present petition filed under Section 419(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, "BNSS"), the State seeks leave to appeal against the impugned judgment of acquittal dated 30.08.2025 passed by the 1st Upper Sessions Judge, District- Rajnandgaon (C.G.), in Sessions Case No. 35/2021, whereby the respondents/accused have been acquitted.
4. As per the case of the prosecution, in brief, on 24.09.2020, complainant Pintu Markam, resident of Basantpur, District 3 Rajnandgaon, lodged a report stating that he runs a dance academy named "D Action" and on the night of 23.09.2020, while present there, he received a phone call at about 11:40 PM from his younger brother Mahendra Markam alias Chintu informing him that their elder brother Goldy Markam alias Yogendra Sahu had been brutally assaulted near the fruit market by Raja Nikose and other co-accused persons, namely Pankaj Yadav, Choti alias Vishnu Rajput, Khemchand Dewangan, Chheen alias Pintu alias Pratham Yadav, Nanu alias Kameshwar Yadav and others, by means of a tangia, knife and other weapons with an intention to commit his murder. Upon receiving such information, the complainant rushed to the spot and found his brother lying in a pool of blood near the roadside drain with grievous injuries on his head and shoulder, whereafter he was taken to District Hospital, Rajnandgaon, but was declared dead by the doctors, while his friend Pratik Tamrakar, who had attempted to intervene, was also found seriously injured and admitted for treatment. On the basis of the said report, dehati nalishi and merg intimation were recorded and thereafter FIR in Crime No. 330/2020 was registered at Police Station Basantpur under Sections 147, 148, 307, 307/149, 302 and 302/149 of IPC along with Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, and after conducting inquest, preparing spot map, recording statements of witnesses, obtaining post-mortem report which opined the death to be homicidal due to severe injuries affecting vital organs, and completing other formalities of investigation including memorandum and seizure proceedings, charge-sheet was filed against the accused persons. However, upon trial, despite examination of 16 4 prosecution witnesses, the learned trial Court vide judgment dated 30.08.2025 acquitted most of the accused persons by extending benefit of doubt, while recording limited conviction only in respect of certain offences under the Arms Act against some of the accused.
5. Learned State counsel submits that the impugned judgment of acquittal is wholly erroneous, unreasonable and contrary to the settled principles governing appreciation of evidence in criminal trials, inasmuch as the learned trial Court has failed to correctly evaluate the cogent and reliable evidence available on record against the respondent/accused. It is contended that there exists sufficient ocular as well as circumstantial evidence establishing the involvement of the accused in the commission of the offence, which has been unjustifiably discarded on the basis of minor, immaterial and trivial discrepancies. The trial Court, it is urged, has ignored the consistent testimonies of material prosecution witnesses including Prateek Tamrakar (PW-01), Pintu Markam (PW-02), Smt. Minakshi Verma (PW-03), Dr. Anil Mahakalkar (PW-04), Lalit Markam (PW-05), Lokesh Kumar Dewangan (PW-06), Mahendra Kumar (PW-07), Girish Totwani (PW-08), Dr. Runarayan Sahu (PW-09), Dinu Gore (PW-10), Dr. Nitin Barmate (PW-
11), Navluram Dhawde (PW-12), Kamlesh Kumar Sahare (PW-13), Siddharth Prithyani (PW-14), Ruchi Verma (PW-15) and Yogesh Kumar Patel (PW-16), which collectively establish the previous enmity and the chain of circumstances pointing towards the guilt of the accused. It is further submitted that the medical evidence, particularly the postmortem report and the testimony of the doctors, unequivocally proves that the 5 death of the deceased was homicidal in nature, caused by injuries to vital organs which were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, and the same has remained uncontroverted.
6. It is further contended that the learned trial Court has failed to draw the necessary adverse inference against the respondent/accused, who, even in their statements recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C., failed to furnish any plausible explanation regarding the incriminating circumstances appearing against them or their presence at the relevant time and place of occurrence. The prosecution has duly established that the accused persons, forming an unlawful assembly, acted in concert and inflicted multiple injuries on the deceased with sharp-edged weapons, and several blood-stained weapons were duly recovered pursuant to their memorandum statements, which lends further corroboration to the prosecution case. The documentary evidence including FIR, dehati nalishi, merg intimation, inquest proceedings and spot map also substantiate the prosecution story. It is thus submitted that the findings of acquittal recorded by the learned trial Court are based on conjectures and surmises and are liable to be set aside, as the evidence on record clearly establishes the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, warranting their conviction for the offence of murder.
7. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the considered opinion that the present case is a fit one for grant of leave to appeal. Accordingly, the application filed under Section 419(3) 6 of the BNSS is allowed.
8. Office is directed to register the case under the head of "Acquittal Appeal".
9. The Criminal Miscellaneous Petition is disposed off accordingly.
10. The acquittal appeal is admitted.
11. Trial Court record have already been received and paper book has already been prepared in CRA No. 2071/2025.
12. List the Acquittal Appeal on 20.04.2026.
Sd/- Sd/-
(Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha)
Judge Chief Justice
Manpreet