2025:CGHC:18454 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Criminal Appeal No. 1160 of 2017 Ramprasad Singh @ Guddu S/o Chamru Singh Sidar, Aged About 26 Years R/o Village Nanka, Maheshpur, Police Station Sitapur, District Sarguja Chhattisgarh ... Appellant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through S. H. O. Kaapu, Raigarh Chhattisgarh ... Respondent For Appellant : Ms. Deblina Marty, Advocate appears on behalf of Mr.Akhtar Hussain, Advocate For State : Mr. Rishabh Singh Deo, Panel lawyer (Hon’ble Shri Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, Judge) Order on Board 23/04/2025 1) The appellant has filed the instant appeal under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, (henceforth ‘the CrPC’) questioning the judgment of conviction and sentence dated 30.06.2017 passed by learned First Additional Sessions Judge, Raigarh, district- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh passed in Session Trial No. 55/2014, whereby the appellant has been convicted as under:- Conviction Sentence Under Section 458 of Indian Penal Code Rigorous Imprisonment for 04 years with fine amount of Rs. 500/- and in default of payment of fine amount additional Rigorous Imprisonment for 30 days. Under Section 395 of the Indian Penal Code Rigorous Imprisonment for 04 years with fine amount of Rs. 500/- and in default of payment of fine amount additional Rigorous Imprisonment for 30 days. Under Section 419 of the Indian Penal Code Rigorous Imprisonment for 03 years with fine amount of Rs. 500/- and in default of payment of fine amount additional Rigorous Imprisonment for 30 days. All the sentences awarded to the accused appellant will run concurrently. If in failure of payment of fine amount then the sentences awarded in default of payment of fine will run separately. 2) When the case is taken up for hearing, learned counsel for the appellant submits that the sentence awarded to the appellant by the concerned trial court has already been completed. She further submits that the appellant has already been released from jail from the present case and thereafter he was convicted in some other case and at present he is completing his jail sentence for the other case, as such, instant criminal appeal becomes infructuous . In support of this he submitted a report received from the Office of Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh as well as the report received from the Police Station Incharge, Kapu, district - Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. 3) Learned State counsel supported the report received from the Office of Jail Superintendent, Central jail, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh and report received from Police Station, Kapu, District Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. And in this regard, he has placed reliance on the dictum rendered by Hon’ble Supreme court in the matter of Suresh Singh and Another V. State of Haryana reported in (2007) 13 SCC 518. Paragraph -12 of the said judgment is relevant for the purpose, which is reproduced below for easy reference:- “12. It appears that thereafter on 22.01.2007, Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No. 1497 was filed wherein it was stated that Devender Singh (Accused 1) had expired. Death certificate was also produced along with the application. It was further stated that Jai Bhagwan (Accused 2), Jai Pal (Accused 4) and Shamsher Singh (Accused 5) be permitted to withdraw from special leave petition since all the three had already undergone the sentence and special leave on their behalf had become infructuous. The said application was allowed by the Court and the prayer was granted. Thus, out of the six accused only two have remained viz. Suresh Singh, Appellant 1 (Accused 3) and Jagbir Singh, Appellant 2 (Accused No. 06).” 4) Since the appellant has already completed his jail sentence and has been released from jail in the present case and learned counsel for the appellant does not want to press this appeal on merits, instant criminal appeal became infructuous and is accordingly disposed of. 5) Let the written instructions received from the Jail Superintendent, Central Jail, District Bilaspur (C.G.) be kept on record. sd/- (Arvind Kumar Verma) JUDGE alfiza