1 CGHC010299462026 2026:CGHC:34229 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRCA No. 1254 of 2026 Dr. Shrinarayan Gole (S.N. Gole) S/o Late Shivnarayan Gole Aged About 47 Years Occupation Service Assistant Professor (Forensic Medicine) C.G. Institute Of Medical Sciences (CIMS) Bilaspur District Bilaspur C.G. R/o Near National English School, Dyalband Main Road, Bilaspur District Bilaspur C.G. ---Note Applicant Name Is Correct Mentioined In Cause Title As Dr. Shrinaryan Gole (S.N. Gole) ... Applicant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Sirgitti, Bilaspur District Bilaspur C.G. ... Non-applicant For Applicant : Mr. Akath Kumar Yadav, Advocate. For Non-applicant/State : Mr. Jitendra Shrivastava, G.A. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Order On Board SISTLA NEELIMA VISHNU PRIYA Digitally signed by SISTLA NEELIMA VISHNU PRIYA Date: 2026.08.06 15:14:14 +0530 2 05.08.2026 1. The Applicant has preferred this anticipatory bail application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of Anticipatory Bail, apprehending his arrest in connection with Crime No.475/2026, registered at Police Station – Sirgitti, District Bilaspur (C.G.) for alleged commission of offence punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471/34 IPC. 2. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that a written complaint was lodged by Shri Umashankar Lahre, Naib Nazir Grade-II, posted in the Office of the Tahsildar, Bilaspur, alleging that the present Applicant, in connivance with other accused persons, deliberately concealed the actual cause of death of a deceased person and falsely projected it as a death caused by snakebite/poisonous animal bite, thereby dishonestly obtaining financial assistance of Rs.4,00,000/- under the Government's Snakebite/Poisonous Animal Bite Death Assistance Scheme, causing wrongful loss to the State exchequer and corresponding wrongful gain to the accused persons. It is further alleged that the present case surfaced during an inquiry conducted pursuant to Legislative Assembly 3 Question No.1188 relating to deaths allegedly caused by snakebite and poisonous creatures in Tahsil Bilaspur, wherein several cases were found to disclose prima facie commission of cognizable offences. During investigation, it was revealed that the Applicant had allegedly suppressed the true cause of death and manipulated the medical and post-mortem records to falsely establish the death as one caused by snakebite for the purpose of claiming Government compensation. The prosecution further alleges that the acts of the Applicant disclose offences not only of cheating but also of forgery, fabrication and use of forged documents and that the investigation is also examining the involvement of other persons in facilitating the fraudulent claim. On the basis of these allegations, the offences as mentioned above were registered against the present Applicant. Hence, this application. 3. Learned Counsel for the Applicant submits that the Applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is submitted that the FIR has been registered after a lapse of about seven years from the date of the alleged incident, at the relevant point of time, the Applicant was merely working as a contractual employee and had no role whatsoever in the processing or sanction of compensation 4 granted on the premise that the deceased had died due to snakebite. It is lastly submitted that the trial is likely to take considerable time for its conclusion, therefore, the Applicant may be granted anticipatory bail. 4. Contrarily, learned State Counsel opposes the application and submits that the present case is not an isolated incident but forms part of a larger racket involving several persons, including doctors and advocates, who allegedly conspired to obtain Government compensation by projecting deaths as snakebite cases on the basis of forged and fabricated records. It is further submitted that most of the co-accused have already been arrested during the course of investigation, the Applicant has two previous criminal antecedents i.e. Crime No.838/2021 registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Crime No.219/2021 registered under Sections 279 and 337 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It is also submitted that despite the statements of witnesses indicating that the deceased was suffering from illness, the present Applicant allegedly prepared the post-mortem report dated 21.11.2019 showing the cause of death as snakebite, on the basis of which compensation under the Government scheme came to be claimed, therefore, the anticipatory bail application may be 5 rejected. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 6. Considering the nature of allegations, the material collected during investigation, the fact that the present case pertains to alleged fraudulent procurement of Government compensation by projecting a death as caused due to snakebite on the basis of manipulated and fabricated records, the role attributed to the present Applicant in preparation of the post- mortem report and facilitating the wrongful claim, the fact that the allegations disclose involvement of several persons and require further investigation and also considering the criminal antecedents of the Applicant, investigation is still going on and without further commenting anything on the merits of the case, this Court is not inclined to grant the benefit of anticipatory bail to the Applicant. 7. Accordingly, the Anticipatory Bail application of the Applicant – Dr. Shrinarayan Gole (S.N. Gole), filed under Section 482 of the BNSS, 2023 in connection with Crime No.475/2026, registered at Police Station – Sirgitti, District Bilaspur (C.G.) for alleged commission of offence punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471/34 IPC, is hereby rejected. 6 8. Office is directed to provide a certified copy of this order to the trial Court concerned for necessary information. Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Priya