1 2025:CGHC:55590 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRCA No. 1771 of 2025 1 - Smt. Rajkumari Gupta W/o Shri Jagannath Gupta Aged About 60 Years R/o Village Karpawand, Tahsil And Police Station Karpawand, Distt. Bastar, Chhattisgarh. 2 - Smt. Lata Gupta W/o Santosh Gupta Aged About 36 Years R/o Village Karpawand, Tahsil And Police Station Karpawand, Distt. Bastar, Chhattisgarh. 3 - Santosh Gupta S/o Shri Jagannath Gupta Aged About 45 Years R/o Village Karpawand, Tahsil And Police Station Karpawand, Distt. Bastar, Chhattisgarh. ... Applicant(s) versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Sho, P.S. Karpawand, Distt. Bastar, Chhattisgarh. ... Respondent(s) (Cause Title taken from Case Information System) For Applicants : Mr. Vaibhav A Goverdhan, Advocate. For Respondent : Ms. Smriti Shrivastava, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order On Board 14.11.2025 1. The applicants have preferred this application under Section 482 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of anticipatory Bail, apprehending their arrest in connection with Crime No. 78/2025, MANPREET KAUR Digitally signed by MANPREET KAUR Date: 2025.11.18 11:24:15 +0530 2 registered at Police Station, Karpawand, District Bastar, (C.G.) for the alleged commission of o>ence punishable under Sections 296, 115(2), 108, 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short, the BNS). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 16.10.2025 at about 20:30 hours, the informant-Satyendra Gupta gave an intimation at Police Station, Karpawand that his marriage was solemnized with the deceased Shristi Gupta 12 years ago and he has two children namely Siya Gupta aged 10 years and Shreyash Gupta, aged 6 years. On 15.10.2025, at about 8:00 in the morning, the deceased was scolding the children and was also assaulting them. When this was objected to by the husband, quarrel took place between them In the night at about 10:25 p.m, the deceased went to the second Boor of the house and when she fell on the Boor, on hearing the sound, the mother of the informant-Raj Kumari Gupta called them and when all the family members came there, they saw that blood was oozing out and the deceased had sustained serious injuries on head, ear, hand and was in a state of unconsciousness. When she was taken to the hospital, she was declared dead. Merg intimation was recorded by the police and during the course of investigation, the husband-Satendra Gupta, mother-in-law Rajkumari Gupta, brother-in-law (Jeth) Santosh Gupta, and sister-in-law (Jethani) Lata Gupta were found to have abetted the deceased to commit suicide and as such, the o>ence as aforesaid was registered against them. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicants have been falsely implicated in this case. There is a delay of more than 10 days in lodging the FIR. The marriage between Satyendra Gupta and the deceased had taken place 14 years ago and during these period, there has been no complaint made by the deceased with regard to treating her with cruelty or demand of dowry. In fact on account of some petty 3 household dispute, the deceased committed suicide when the husband of the deceased had merely objected the scolding and assaulting being made by the deceased to her children. There is no material availalble on record to establish that the applicants have abeted the deceased in commission of suicide. In fact, it was the applicants themselves who had taken her to the hospital where unfortunately the deceased died. The applicant No. 1 is the mother-in-law, and the applicants No. 2 and 3 are Jeth and Jethani of the deceased and they have also been roped in this case without any rhyme or reason. As such, prayer is made for granting anticipatory bail to the applicants. 4. On the other hand, the learned State counsel opposes the submission made by the learned counsel for the applicants and submits that the postmortem report discloses multiple injuries on the body of the deceased which are contusion, abrasion, multiple bruises and the cause of death was head injury. Further, the whatsapp message sent by the deceased to her parents clearly disclosed that she was being subjected to cruel treatment by her in-laws and husband as such, this anticipatory bail application deserves to be rejected. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case diary. 6. There are as many 12 injuries found on the body of the deceased in the postmortem report which are abrasion, contusion, abraded contusion, multiple bruises on various parts of the body right from forehead, arm, thigh, Cnger, toe, in addition to the head injury, which was the cause of death and further that the whatsapp message clearly states that the deceased was subjected to very cruel treatment for the last 11 years since her marriage. In the whatsapp message, the deceased has clearly stated in the recording of the camera installed in her house, it can be 4 seen that she was dragged, slammed and assaulted by the applicants and she alongwith her parents were being hurled abuses. The deceased has clearly stated in the message that the torture was unbearable and was not able to withstand any further torture and a camera recording. Prima facie it appears that after the incident of assault and abuses by the applicants, the deceased has narrated the entire sequence of events in the form of a written message which was sent through whatsapp to her parents. 7. In view of the foregoing discussion, this Court Cnds that the material collected during investigation, particularly the postmortem report indicating multiple injuries on the body of the deceased, and the detailed WhatsApp message sent by the deceased to her parents narrating continuous cruelty, physical assaults and emotional harassment at the hands of the applicants, prima facie disclose grave and serious accusations. The allegations are not only of routine domestic discord but suggest a sustained pattern of cruelty extending over a decade, coupled with speciCc acts of violence immediately preceding the death. At this stage, the nature of the o>ence, the degree of brutality reBected from the injuries, and the direct implication of the applicants by the deceased herself through her contemporaneous communication, all indicate their active and proximate role in the sequence of events leading to the unnatural death. Given the seriousness of the o>ence punishable under the provisions of the BNS, the likelihood of the applicants inBuencing witnesses, most of whom are family members, and the necessity of custodial interrogation for a fair, complete and unhindered investigation, this Court does not Cnd it a Ct case to extend the relief of anticipatory bail. The parameters governing grant of such relief, including the gravity of 5 accusation, possibility of tampering with evidence, and the larger societal interest, weigh heavily against the applicants. 8. Accordingly, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant – Smt. Rajkumari Gupta, Smt. Lata Gupta and Santosh Gupta, involved in Crime No. 78/2025, registered at Police Station, Karpawand, District Bastar, (C.G.) for the alleged commission of o>ence punishable under Sections 296, 115(2), 108, 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is rejected at this stage. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Manpreet