The Chhattisgarh High Court has delivered a detailed judgment criticizing a split verdict in a murder case, holding that it is legally untenable to acquit accused persons of murder while convicting them only for criminal conspiracy when strong evidence directly links them to the crime. The Court said that such an approach reveals a serious misreading of evidence and cannot be sustained in law.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal set aside the conviction of father-son duo Premchand Deshlahre and Rekhchand @ Jitendra Deshlahre under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, observing that they had been acquitted of the primary charge of murder without adequate reasoning. At the same time, the Court affirmed the life sentence imposed on hired killer Santkumar Bandhe, citing compelling material supporting his involvement.
Background
The case relates to the murder of Dharmendra Deshlahare, whose body was discovered on July 21, 2022, near Karo Kanya Temple in Boria Bandh, Berla, with deep head and neck wounds. According to the prosecution, Dharmendra often sold family assets to finance his alcoholism, causing severe strain within the household. Premchand, aged 65, and his son Rekhchand, aged 27, allegedly plotted to eliminate him and hired Bandhe and another accused, Paras @ Tehku Ratre, for Rs 50,000 to carry out the killing.
The First Additional Sessions Judge, Bemetara, convicted Bandhe under Section 302/34 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment. However, the same court acquitted the father and brother of the murder charge while convicting them solely for conspiracy, sentencing them to ten years in prison.
Arguments
Counsel for the acquitted appellants argued that a conspiracy conviction cannot survive once the substantive murder charge is dismissed, stressing that the prosecution failed to prove the conspiracy beyond reasonable doubt. They also pointed out the contradictory findings in the trial court’s judgment.
Counsel for Bandhe questioned reliance on CCTV footage and last-seen evidence, describing them as unreliable. The State defended the conspiracy conviction but acknowledged that it did not challenge the murder acquittal before the High Court.
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court reviewed the evidence and the trial court’s reasoning in detail. It found that the lower court accepted important circumstances establishing involvement of the father and brother but inexplicably refrained from finding them guilty of murder. The Judges held that the reasoning did not withstand legal scrutiny.
Referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Sachin v. State of Maharashtra (2025), the Bench said that an appellate court cannot impose a harsher conviction or sentence in an appeal filed only by the accused when the State has not appealed for enhancement.
“When there is overwhelming evidence with regard to participation of the accused in the substantive offence in question, then acquitting some of the accused for the substantive offence and convicting them merely for conspiracy on mis-appreciation of evidence cannot be justified.”
The Court said it was compelled to acquit the father and brother despite the availability of “ample evidence” linking them to the murder.
“With a heavy heart, we are constrained to acquit the appellants… in absence of any appeal filed by the State.”
In contrast, the Court noted that the evidence against Bandhe was solid, including CCTV footage showing him with the victim shortly before the murder and the recovery of bloodstained clothes and the victim’s mobile phone.
Criminal Appeal No. 1647 of 2023 was allowed, leading to the acquittal and release of Premchand and Rekhchand. Criminal Appeal No. 1428 of 2023 filed by Bandhe was dismissed, and his life sentence remains intact.