DEBOJIT PANKIKA CHARAIDEO SONARI Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present criminal appeal is directed against the judgment and order dtd. 22/12/2022 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Gauhati at Guwahati in Criminal Appeal (J) No. 16/2019. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant and upheld the order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Charaideo, Sonari [hereinafter referred to as "Trial Court"] passed in Session Case No. 10 (S-C) of 2016, thereby convicting the accused-appellant under Ss. 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 [hereinafter referred to as "IPC"]. The appellant was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.5000.00 and in default of payment of fine to further undergo S.I. for 6 months for the offence under Sec. 302 and to undergo R.I. for seven years and pay a fine of Rs.5000.00, and in default of payment of fine to further undergo S.I. for 6 months for the offence under Sec. 201 IPC.

(2.) The factual matrix of the case is that a minor girl named Soru Kharia (also referred to as Haru Kharia) [hereinafter referred to as "deceased"], aged approximately 10 years, had been adopted by Smt. Sumitra Panika, who is the mother of the present appellant. The deceased had been residing with the appellant and his mother for approximately seven years. In the first week of June 2015, Smt. Sumitra Panika left their residence to receive medical treatment, leaving the deceased child in the sole custody of the appellant. Subsequently, the child went missing. On 27/6/2015, one Babu Paik [hereinafter referred to as "informant"], who is the maternal uncle of the deceased, lodged a written complaint at the Sonari Police Station alleging that the deceased had been missing for 22 days and despite this, the appellant allegedly had neither conducted a search nor informed the deceased's family.

(3.) It was in this background that the First Information Report No. 130/2015 was registered, initially under Sec. 365 of IPC, and the criminal machinery was set into motion.