After 5½ Years In Jail, Chhattisgarh HC Upholds Knife-Attack Conviction But Cuts Jail Term To Time Served

On 28 March 2021, following a dispute over money, Akash Chouhan allegedly stabbed Sheikh Shabbir in the abdomen with a knife.

The trial court convicted Chouhan under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 25(1B)(b) and 27(1) of the Arms Act, sentencing him to concurrent terms of imprisonment and fines.

On appeal under Section 415(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), the appellant did not challenge his convictions and sought reduction of his sentence to the period already served.

Section 307 IPC concerns an attempt to murder; Sections 25(1B)(b) and 27(1) of the Arms Act provide for offences and punishment relating to unlawful possession and use of firearms or other arms as applicable.

The appeal was brought under Section 415(2) BNSS.

In considering post-conviction release, the Court also referred to Section 481 BNSS, directing the appellant to furnish a bond in Form No. 45 for six months.

The judgment cites no precedent or separate sentencing test; it assesses the sentence in light of the injury, the circumstances of the case, and the period already served.

The Court found that the injured witness’s testimony, the medical evidence, and the seizure of the knife supported the finding that the appellant stabbed the victim in the abdomen.

It therefore declined to disturb the convictions, which the appellant had not pressed in the appeal.

On sentence, the Court considered the isolated injury, the case circumstances, and the appellant’s more than five years and six months in custody.

It concluded that further detention would serve no useful purpose and that the ends of justice would be met by reducing the custodial terms to the period already undergone.

The convictions under Section 307 IPC and Sections 25(1B)(b) and 27(1) of the Arms Act were affirmed, but the custodial sentences were reduced to the period already undergone.

The fines and default sentences remained intact.

The Court directed the appellant’s release forthwith unless required in another case and ordered him to furnish the specified bond under Section 481 BNSS.