1 2026:CGHC:4772 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 1780 of 2024 Roshan Kurrey S/o Sudharam Kurrey Aged About 24 Years R/o Village Khajurani, P.S. Jaijaipur, District Janjgir-Champa Chhattisgarh ... Appellant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Station Pamgarh District Janjgir-Champa Chhattisgarh ... Respondent For Appellant : Mr. C. P. Lahrey, Advocate For Respondent : Ms. Priya Sharma, P.L. Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal Judgment on Board 28/01/2026 1 The present appeal under Section 415(3) of BNSS, 2023 has been filed challenging the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 23.08.2024 passed by learned 2nd Additional Session Judge, Janjgir, District Janjgir-Champa (C.G.), in Sessions Trial No.22/2023 whereby the appellant has been convicted and sentenced as under : BHOLA NATH KHATAI Digitally signed by BHOLA NATH KHATAI Date: 2026.01.31 13:29:08 +0530 2 Conviction Sentence U/s 307 of IPC Rigorous imprisonment for 7 years with fine of Rs.5,000, in default of payment of fine, additional rigorous imprisonment for 3 months. U/s 25 (1) (1-b) (b) of the Arms Act Rigorous imprisonment for 3 years with fine of Rs.500, in default of payment of fine, additional rigorous imprisonment for 15 days. U/s 27 of the Arms Act Rigorous imprisonment for 7 years with fine of Rs.1,000, in default of payment of fine, additional rigorous imprisonment for 1 month. The sentences were directed to run concurrently. 2 The case of prosecution, in short, is that on 07.11.2022, around 7:00 pm, the complainant heard Santoshi Kurrey (w/o injured Sanjay Kurrey) shouting for help. He rushed to Sanjay's house and found him lying on the floor, bleeding from the neck. On being asked, Sanjay and Santoshi told him that their nephew, accused Roshan Kurrey, assaulted with sharp edged iron weapon (Katta) on his neck and head causing grievous injuries with the intention of killing him and fled away. With the help of the villagers, Sanjay Kurrey was taken to Pamgarh Hospital, where the doctor, after examining the injured Sanjay Kurrey, advised to take him to Bilaspur. Soon, the injured's wife Santoshi Kurrey along with her children took the injured to Bilaspur by an ambulance. The matter being reported to the Police Station, Pamgarh by complainant Sunil Kumar Barman (PW-1), a case was registered against the appellant for the aforesaid offence. 3 So as to hold the appellant guilty, the prosecution has examined as many as 15 witnesses and exhibited 25 documents. The statement of the appellant was also recorded under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C. in which he 3 denied the circumstances appearing against him and pleaded innocence and false implication in the case. 4 Learned trial Court, after appreciation of the oral and documentary evidence brought on record, vide impugned judgment, convicted and sentenced the appellant for the offence as mentioned in para-1 of this judgment. Hence, the present appeal. 5 Learned counsel for appellant submits that he is not pressing the appeal so far as the conviction part of the impugned judgment is concerned and would confine his argument to the sentence part thereof only. He submits that the appellant is in jail since 08.11.2022 i.e. he has already served jail sentence of approximately 3 years, 2 months & 20 days out of the maximum sentence of 7 years awarded by the trial Court. Therefore, he prays that the sentence imposed upon the appellant may be reduced to the period already undergone by him and he may be released from jail. 6 Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the State, supporting the impugned judgment, opposed the arguments advanced on behalf of the counsel for appellant. However, she submits that there is no previous criminal record of the appellant. 7 Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 8 Having gone through the material available on record and the statements of the injured Sanjay Kurrey (PW-2) his wife Santoshi Kurrey (PW-6) & son Jai Prakash Kurrey (PW-3), complainant Sunil Kumar Barman (PW-1), Dr. Abhishek Mishra (PW-9), Dr. Hemant Lahrey (PW-11) and their 4 medical reports Ex.P-10 and P-13, Sub-Inspector S. K. Sharma (PW-13), the involvement of the appellant in the crime in question is clearly established. This Court does not see any illegality in the findings recorded by the Trial Court regarding conviction of the appellant for offence punishable under Sections 307 of IPC and Sections 25 (1) (1-b) (b) & 27 of the Arms Act. 9 As regards sentence, in the matter of Mohammad Giasuddin v. State of Andhra Pradesh reported in (1977) 3 SCC 287, Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed that if you are to punish a man retributively, you must injure him. If you are to reform him, you must improve him and, men are not improved by injuries and held in para-9 as follows: “9. Western jurisprudes and 'sociologists, from their own angle have struck a like note. Sir Samual Romilly, critical of the brutal penalties in the then Britain, said in 1817 : "The laws of England are written in blood". Alfieri has suggested : 'society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it’. George Nicodotis, Director of Criminological Research Centre, Athens, Greece, maintains that 'Crime is the result of the lack of the right kind of education.' It is thus plain that crime is a pathological aberration, that the criminal can ordinarily be redeemed, that the State has to rehabilitate rather than avenge. The sub-culture that leads to anti-social behaviour has to be countered not by undue cruelty but by re- culturisation. Therefore, the focus of interest in penology is the individual, and goal is salvaging him for society. The infliction of harsh and savage punishment is thus a relic of past and regressive times. The human today views sentencing as a process of reshaping a person who has deteriorated into criminality and the modern community has a primary stake in the rehabilitation of the offender as a means of social defense. We, therefore consider a therapeutic, rather than an in 'terrorem' outlook, should prevail in our criminal courts, since brutal 5 incarceration of the person merely produces laceration of his mind. In the words of George Bernard Shaw : 'If you are to punish a man retributively, you must injure him. If you are to reform him, you must improve him and, men are not improved by injuries'. We may permit ourselves the liberty to quote from Judge Sir Jeoffrey Streatfield : “If you are going to have anything to do with the criminal Courts, you should see for yourself the conditions under which prisoners serve their sentences.” 10 In the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Mohammad Giasuddin (supra) and keeping in view the fact that the appellant has already served the jail sentence of 3 years, 2 months & 20 days out of the maximum sentence of 7 years, he is the nephew of the injured, the incident occurred due to dispute regarding ancestral property, as per the arrest memo, the appellant is a labourer, he has studied upto Class-12th, he has no previous criminal record and also considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the opinion that the ends of justice would serve if the appellant is sentenced to the period already undergone by him. 11 Accordingly, the conviction of the appellant under Section 307 of IPC and Sections 25 (1) (1-b) (b) & 27 of the Arms Act is maintained but his jail sentence under Section 307 of IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act is reduced to the period already undergone by him i.e. 03 years, 2 months & 20 days. However, the fine and its default stipulation imposed upon the appellant by the Trial Court under the said sections shall remain intact. Furthermore, the conviction and sentence of the appellant for offence under Section 25 (1) (1-b) (b) of the Arms Act is maintained. 12 Consequently, the appeal stands allowed in part to the 6 extent indicated herein-above. 13 The appellant is reported to be in jail. He be released forthwith if not required to be detained in default of fine and not required in any other case. 14 Record of the trial Court along with a copy of this judgment be sent back forthwith for compliance and necessary action, if any. A copy of the judgment may also be sent to the concerned Jail Superintendent wherein the appellant is suffering the jail sentence. Sd/- (Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal) JUDGE Khatai