No Evidence To Show That Accused Took Undue Advantage Or Acted In Cruel Manner: SC Alters Conviction U/S 302 IPC To Part I Of S. 304 IPC

The Supreme Court altered the conviction of a man under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to Part I of Section 304 of IPC.

The Court was dealing with a criminal appeal challenging the judgment of the Allahabad High Court by which it upheld the conviction under Section 302 of the IPC and sentence of life imprisonment.

The three-Judge Bench comprising Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Sanjay Karol, and Justice K.V. Viswanathan observed, “Taking into consideration the nature of injuries sustained by both the accused persons as well as the deceased, the possibility of the incident taking place in a sudden fight in the heat of passion, upon a sudden quarrel cannot be ruled out. … It is further to be seen that there is no evidence to show that the appellant has taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual manner. It is further to be seen that the weapon used is a pocketknife. The injury caused by the said knife is a single injury.”

Advocate Rukhmini Bobde appeared on behalf of the appellant/accused while Senior AAG Garima Prasad appeared on behalf of the respondent/State.

Factual Background -

In 1986, a written report was lodged wherein it was stated that pursuant to a previous dispute, the appellant/accused and his co-accused stabbed a man (deceased) who eventually succumbed to his injuries on the very same day. Based on this, an FIR was registered for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC against the appellant and his co-accused. After preliminary investigation, the Police arrested the accused persons and at the instance of the appellant, the police recovered a blood-stained knife which was allegedly used in the commission of the crime.

At the time of their arrest, both the accused persons had injuries on their body. As per the prosecution case, a few days prior to the date of the incident, the appellant had molested the wife of the elder brother of the deceased. The Trial Court convicted the appellant and the co-accused and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. Being aggrieved, they approached the High Court but it affirmed their conviction. Hence, the accused challenged this before the Apex Court.

The Supreme Court in view of the above facts said, “It could thus be seen that except the injury at serial no.1, which can be said to be caused by the knife, all other injuries are abrasions and contusion.”

The Court added that on account of the injuries sustained by the accused persons, the appellant is entitled to the benefit of Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC.

The Court, therefore, altered the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 IPC to the one under Part-I of Section 304 IPC and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 8 years for the said offence.

Accordingly, the Apex Court partly allowed the appeal.

Cause Title- Devendra Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 576)

Appearance:

Appellant: Advocate Rukhmini Bobde, AOR T. N. Singh, Advocates Vikas Kumar Singh, Amit Kr Srivastava, Soumya Priyadarshinee, Rajshree Singh, and Rajkumar.

Respondent: Sr. AAG Garima Prashad, AOR Sudeep Kumar, Advocates Rupal, Nidhi, and Manisha.

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