The High Court of Chhattisgarh, in a significant judgment, has ruled that an acquittal based solely on the non-examination of the doctor who conducted a post-mortem is “completely against the law,” especially when the post-mortem report was admitted by the accused under Section 294 of the CrPC.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru set aside the 1998 acquittal of 10 respondents for murder, convicting them under Section 302/149 of the IPC and sentencing them to rigorous imprisonment for life.

The Court was hearing an acquittal appeal (ACQA No. 418 of 2010) filed by the State against the September 19, 1998 judgment of the Second Additional Sessions Judge, Mahasamund. The trial court had acquitted the accused of charges under Sections 302/149 (murde

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