Penal Code, 1860 – s.302 and s.304 Part-I – Prosecution case that PW-6 and her husband-victim went to the house of PW-5 – Appellant-accused came in front of the house of PW-5 and started abusing PW-5 and his wife on account of a loan they had taken – Victim intervened – Appellant abused victim as well – Appellant left – Victim went behind the appellant – Sound of quarrel was heard – After rushing to the spot, appellant was seen assaulting victim with a bamboo stick – Injured victim was taken hospital, where he was declared dead – Trial Court Court convicted appellant u/s. 302 IPC – Appeal preferred by the appellant was dismissed by the High Court: Held: Taking into consideration the evidence of PW-5 and PW-6, there is no error in the finding of the trial court and the High Court that it is the present appellant who assaulted the victim-deceased due to which the death of the deceased has occurred – From the testimony of PW-6 itself, it will be clear that after a scuffle took place at the house of PW-5, the accused appellant went from there and the deceased followed him – Thereafter, as to how the assault took place is not clear either from the evidence of PW-5 or from the evidence of PW-6 – It is however clear that after the accused appellant left the place, the deceased followed him – After that, as to what had happened between the deceased and the appellant is not clear from the evidence of the eyewitnesses – From the evidence of PW-6 itself, it is clear that the deceased had nothing to do with the incident – It was just that deceased had intervened when appellant was abusing PW-5 and his wife – Irked by the intervention of the deceased, the appellant started abusing the deceased and thereafter went away – It is thus clear that no motive has come on record as to why the appellant wanted to commit the murder of the deceased – The evidence of the eyewitnesses also does not show that the appellant had come with any weapon – On the contrary, the medical evidence would show that the injuries caused are with the bamboo stick, which is commonly available in a village – The possibility of the deceased following the appellant and an altercation taking place between them and in a sudden fight in the heat of passion the appellant assaulting the deceased cannot be ruled out – The nature of the injuries sustained by the deceased would also not show that the appellant had taken any undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual manner – In that view of the matter, the appellant is entitled to benefit of doubt – The conviction of the appellant u/s.302 IPC, therefore, deserves to be altered to one under Part I of s.304 IPC. [Paras 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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