Panna Lal Vs State of Chhattisgarh — Chhattisgarh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Panna Lal Vs State of Chhattisgarh — Chhattisgarh HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petition dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for (to challenge the chargesheet); interim order granted earlier vacated; directions issued for service of advance copy of the fresh petition on respondent No.4's counsel and for return of the certified copies of the FIR and charge-sheet to the petitioner.

Issue for consideration

Whether FIR No. 12/2026 dated 14.01.2026, lodged at Police Station - Lakhanpur, District - Surguja under Section 108 of BNS against the petitioner, should be quashed.

Ratio / Principle

The instant petition is dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty to the petitioner as prayed for (i.e., liberty to challenge the chargesheet already submitted against him).

Key takeaways

The interim order granted earlier in the petition stands vacated.ratio¶28
The petitioner's counsel is directed to serve an advance copy of the fresh petition (to be filed challenging the chargesheet) on Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, counsel for respondent No.4 / complainant.ratio¶29
The certified copy of the impugned FIR and the charge-sheet annexed with the petition is to be returned to the petitioner after retaining a photocopy thereof.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

CRMP No. 345 of 2026 — High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur (Coram: Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice and Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge; order per Ramesh Sinha, C.J.), decided 21.07.2026 — Panna Lal v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. Petition under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 praying for quashing of FIR No. 12/2026 dated 14.01.2026 lodged at Police Station - Lakhanpur, District - Surguja u/s 108 of BNS, 2023. As the chargesheet had already been submitted against the petitioner, counsel sought withdrawal of the petition in order to challenge the chargesheet. Held: petition dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for; interim order granted earlier stands vacated; petitioner's counsel directed to serve advance copy of the fresh petition on counsel for respondent No.4 / complainant; certified copies of the impugned FIR and charge-sheet annexed with the petition to be returned to the petitioner after retaining photocopies. The merits of the FIR-quashing question were not adjudicated.

1

CGHC010042832026 2026:CGHC:30899-DB

NAFR

HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

CRMP No. 345 of 2026

Panna Lal S/o Late Shri Manjhi Ram Aged About 50 Years R/o Laxmipur Chaurpara Ambikapur District- Surguja (C.G.)

... Petitioner

versus

1 - State of Chhattisgarh Through The Station House Officer, Police Station,- Lakhanpur District- Surguja (Ambikapur) (C.G.)

2 - Inspector General of Police Surguja Division District- Surguja (C.G.)

3 - Superintendent of Police District- Surguja

4 - Ms Alma Minj W/o Late Fulchand Minj Aged About 40 Years R/o Chukandand Semarpara P.S. Lakhanpur - District- Surguja (C.G.)

... Respondents

_________________________________________________________ For Petitioner : Mr. Ashish Tiwari, Advocate For State/respondent Nos. 1 to 3 : Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, GA For Respondent No.4 : Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, Advocate

Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge

Order on Board

Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J.

21. 07.2026

ROHITKUMAR Digitallysigned byROHIT CHANDRA KUMAR CHANDRA

Heard Mr. Ashish Tiwari, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, learned Government Advocate, appearing for the State/respondent Nos.1 to 3 and Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, learned counsel, appearing for respondent No.4.

2

The present petition under Section 528 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has been filed by the petitioner with the following prayers :

“i. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire records of the case pertaining to FIR bearing No. 12/2026 dated 14.01.2026 lodged by Police Station - Lakhanpur, District - Surguja, u/s 108 of BNS, and/or;

ii. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate order or direction quashing the FIR No. 12 / 2026 (ANNEXURE P/1) dated 14/01/2026 lodged against the Petitioner at Police Station - Lakhanpur, District - Surguja u/s 108 of BNS, 2023.

iii. Pass any other order(s) as this Hon'ble Court may deems fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that as the chargesheet has already been submitted against the petitioner, therefore, he wants to withdraw the instant petition to challenge the same.

Accordingly, the instant petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as prayed for.

Interim order granted earlier stands vacated.

Learned counsel for the petitioner is directed to serve advance copy of the petition, which is to be filed by him, to Ms. Nirupama Bajpai, learned counsel, appearing for respondent No.4 / complainant.

3

Certified copy of the impugned FIR as well as charge-sheet annexed with this petition be returned back to the petitioner after retaining photocopy of the same.

Sd/Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice

Chandra