Deciding Authority: The Supreme Court of India
Name of the Judges: N. Santosh Hegde & Doraiswamy Raju
Date of Judgement: 29/01/2002
Facts: The appellant and 12 others were chargesheeted before the learned Sessions Judge, Barnala, for various offences; principal offence amongst them being one punishable under Section 302 IPC for having caused the death of Hari Singh and Bharpur Singh in an incident which took place on 4.6.1987 at about 10 a.m. It is the prosecution case that in regard to certain disputes the appellants’ group and complainant PW-4, Nazar Singh’s group had in regard to the right to bid for certain Shamlat land which was being auctioned on the relevant date, the appellant and other accused persons assaulted the group of the complainant, caused injuries to various persons, consequent to which the abovesaid two persons died due to the injuries suffered in the said attack. The learned Sessions Judge as per his judgment dated 22.12.1988 convicted 9 of those persons for offences punishable under Section 304, Part II, IPC, and sentenced them to undergo RI for a period of 8 years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- each. Being aggrieved by the said judgment, the appellants preferred criminal appeals before the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh, and the High Court as per its judgment dated 2.11.1995 upheld the conviction of the appellants imposed on them under Section 304, Part II, IPC but on taking into consideration various extenuating factors, reduced the said sentence from 8 years to 5 years’ RI, maintaining the fine imposed by the Sessions Court. The other sentences imposed on the appellants under other minor charges were maintained and were made to run concurrently. It is against this judgment of the High Court that the appellants, 8 in numbers, are before this apex Court.
Judgement: Having perceived the difficulty in arguing for a clear acquittal, Mr. Mahabir Singh, learned counsel appearing for the appellants, in the Court’s view rightly, confined the two-fold arguments to the nature of the offence and the quantum of sentence only. He contended that the courts below erred in coming to the conclusion that the offence in question was one falling under Section 304, Part II, IPC, while if at all a conviction is to be based, according to him, it could be only under Section 325 IPC. Based on the material available on record, he pointed out that though the appellants had carried sharp-edged and blunt weapons which could cause serious injuries, a perusal of the injuries caused on the deceased would show that they were not used for the purpose of causing such injuries which in their knowledge would cause death. The Court found that at least one of the injuries caused on the deceased was severe enough to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. Based on the evidence of the doctor, he held that an incised wound of 3 inches on the right side of the scalp just above the left ear which caused the fracture of left parietal and left temporal bone extending to the frontal and occipital region could never be treated as an injury contemplated under Section 325 IPC, but should be held to be one that would cause death which knowledge the appellant must have had. It is on an analysis of this evidence of the doctor pertaining to the injuries suffered by the two deceased persons, namely, Hari Singh and Bharpur Singh, the learned Sessions Judge came to the conclusion that these accused who have been found guilty of having caused those injuries could only be convicted for an offence punishable under Section 304, Part II, IPC.
Decision:
The appeals are dismissed.
Sudipta Bhowmick, 4th Year, B.A. LL.B., School of Law, Kiit University
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