Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Section 302 – Murder – offence modified – Appeal against conviction – Appreciation of evidence – Held: There is no allegation by any of the prosecution witnesses that the accused had any motive or intention to cause death of the deceased. This incident occurred as a result of a sudden fight without any premeditation, in the heat of passion and upon a sudden quarrel. The offender had not taken undue advantage by acting in an unusual manner. The accused had inflicted bodily injuries on the deceased which were of such a nature that were likely to cause death. There can be no doubt that the accused intended to cause and did cause the injuries, and is therefore, liable to be punished under first part of Section 304 of IPC.
The scenario in which the accused had been stated by the eye-witnesses to have given one blow on the deceased, it is difficult for us to hold that he gave the blow in question either with the intention of causing murder of the deceased or he could have had the requisite knowledge that death would otherwise be the inevitable result. In such a situation, even on accepting the prosecution case, we hold that the accused did not commit the offence under Section 302 IPC but under Part-I of Section 304 IPC. We set aside the conviction of the accused under Section 302 IPC and instead convict him under Section 304 Part-I of the IPC.
The appeal is partly allowed. The conviction under Section 302 IPC is scaled down to section 304 Part-I IPC and we convict the accused under Section 304 Part-I to undergo 10 (ten) years rigorous imprisonment. (Para 27, 28)
GAUHATI HIGH COURT
2023 STPL(Web) 52 Gauhati
[GAHC010097422020]
Mridul Gogoi Lakhimpur, Assam Vs. State Of Assam
Crl. A(J) 57 of 2020-Decided on 22-8-2023
https://stpllaw.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-STPLWeb-52-Gauhati.pdf
