The High Court of Chhattisgarh has acquitted an appellant previously convicted under the POCSO Act and sentenced to life imprisonment, citing a “vitiated” identification process and a fractured chain of circumstantial evidence. The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru , set aside the conviction, emphasizing that while the occurrence of a crime was proved, the prosecution failed to link the accused to the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Case Background

The appeal ( CRA No. 1323 of 2022 ) was filed by Prasen Kumar Bhargav against the judgment dated July 8, 2022, passed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge FTSC (POCSO Act), Balodabazar. The Trial Court had convicted Bhargav under Sections 450, 363, 506-II of the IPC and Section

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