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Madhya Pradesh High Court

Mohd. Salim vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 14 January, 2026

           NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:3612




                                                                  1                               CRA-5351-2019
                               IN     THE       HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                                                      AT JABALPUR
                                                           BEFORE
                                         HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE RAJENDRA KUMAR VANI
                                                    ON THE 14 th OF JANUARY, 2026
                                                  CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 5351 of 2019
                                                          MOHD. SALIM
                                                              Versus
                                                  THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
                          Appearance:
                               Mr. Anubhav Singhal - Advocate for appellant.
                               Ms. Vineeta Sharma - Public Prosecutor for respondent/State.

                                                                    ORDER

With the consent of learned counsel for the parties, the matter is finally heard.

2. This appeal has been filed by the appellant under Section 374 (2) of Cr.P.C. being aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 19.06.2019 passed by the Second Additional Sessions Judge to the Court of First Additional Sessions Judge, Bhopal, District Bhopal (M.P.) in Session Trial No.297/2017 whereby the present appellant/Mohd. Salim has been convicted under Sections 294 & 324 of IPC and sentenced to undergo three months R.I. and one year and fine of Rs.5,000/- respectively with default stipulation.

3. As per the story of prosecution, on 21.12.2016 at about 02:20 p.m., the complainant Rohit Niware has lodged a dehati nalisi and alleged that at about 9:45 p.m. the appellant/Salim and other co-accused persons, namely Aseem and Vijay Rajput came. They were armed with sword and all of a sudden they started assulting by sword to the complainant, in which, he sustained injuries in his left leg. However, all of a sudden Rahoit Raghuwanshi (PW-3) reached on spot and Signature Not Verified Signed by: ANIL CHOUDHARY Signing time: 1/16/2026 7:43:58 PM NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:3612 2 CRA-5351-2019 rescued the complainant. On the basis of said allegations, the concerned Police Station registered the offence vide Crime No.727/2016 for the offence under Sections 294, 323, 326 and 506-34 of IPC.

4. After the completion of the investigation, chargesheet under Sections 294, 323, 326 and 506/34 of IPC was filed in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bhopal. Since the said case was triable by the Sessions Court, the same was committed to the Court of Sessions at Bhopal and from where it was received by the trial Court for trial.

5. The learned trial Judge on going through the evidence available in the chargesheet framed charges against the present appellant/Mohd. Salim for the offences punishable under Sections 294, 323, 326/34 and 506 Part II of IPC, which he denied and requested for the trial.

6. In order to bring home the charges, the prosecution examined as many as 06 witnesses, which are Rohit Niware (PW-1), Rahul Niware (PW-2), Rohit Raghuwanshi (PW-3), Dr. Devendra Patkar (PW-4), Mahesh Kumar Gandharv (PW-5) and ASI Ramkumar (P.W.6) and placed Ex.P/1 to P/10 and Ex.D/1 the documents on record.

7. The learned trial Judge after appreciating and marshalling the evidence vide impugned judgment has convicted the appellant for commission of offence under Sections 294 and 324 of IPC and sentenced him as mentioned in paragraph-1 of the this judgment. In this manner, the present appeal has been filed by the appellant.

8. At the outset, learned counsel for the appellant/accused submitted that he does not wish to challenge the conviction of the appellants for the aforesaid offences. The incident in question is of the year 2016. At the time of incident, appellant/Mohd. Salim was aged about 29 years and he is facing the ordeal of trial Signature Not Verified Signed by: ANIL CHOUDHARY Signing time: 1/16/2026 7:43:58 PM NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:3612 3 CRA-5351-2019 for a long period. As per the certificate issued under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the present appellant has undergone incarceration for a period of three days during the course of trial. He remained cooperative during trial and also during pendency of this appeal. He is the first offender. He has no criminal antecedents. Having regard to the period of custody, absence of any criminal antecedents, prolonged pendency of the proceedings since 2016 spanning more than 10 years and his cooperative conduct, it is prayed that the sentence may be reduced to the period already undergone while enhancing the fine amount suitably.

9. Learned counsel for the State supported the impugned judgment but he has no objection on deciding the appeal on the point of sentence.

10. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

11. After hearing learned counsel for both the parties and on perusal of the record, it is found that the learned trial Court has rightly appreciated the evidence on record and rightly convicted the appellant/Mohd. Salim under Sections 294 and 324 of IPC for causing injuries to injured person Rohit Niware, hence, the conviction of present appellant needs no interference.

12. As regards sentence, taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, particularly the age of the appellant being 29 years at the time of the incident in the year 2016 and since then he is facing agony of trial, the period of incarceration suffered by him during the course of trial which is three days, his cooperative conduct during trial coupled with the fact that he is the first offender and the submissions made by learned counsel for the appellant, this Court is of the view that the ends of justice would be met if the substantive jail sentence is reduced to the period already undergone by the present appellant while suitably enhancing the fine amount.

NEUTRAL CITATION NO. 2026:MPHC-JBP:3612 4 CRA-5351-2019

13. Accordingly, while affirming the conviction of the appellant/Mohd. Salim under Sections 294 and 324 of the IPC, the sentence of imprisonment is reduced to the period already undergone by him and the fine is enhanced from Rs.5,000/- to Rs.12,000/- for the offence under Section 324 of IPC. The enhanced fine amount shall be deposited by the appellant within a period of two months from today, failing which he shall undergo the sentence as originally awarded by the learned trial Court. The fine amount, if any already deposited by the appellant be adjusted against the aforesaid amount of fine. The entire amount of fine deposited by the appellant under Section 324 of IPC be paid to injured Rohit Niware as compensation under Section 357 of Cr.P.C.

14. The appellant is on bail, his bail bond shall stand discharged.

15. The order of the learned trial Court pertaining to disposal of the property is hereby affirmed.

16. Let record of the learned trial Court along with copy of this order be sent back to the concerned trial Court for information and necessary compliance.

17. With the aforesaid, the appeal stands disposed of .

(RAJENDRA KUMAR VANI) JUDGE ac/-