Celebratory Firing During Marriage Ceremonies An Unfortunate Yet Prevalent Practise: SC Modifies Conviction Of Accused From S 302 IPC To S 304 Part II IPC

During a marriage ceremony, the accused had opened celebratory firing without taking reasonable measures for safety, which led to the demise of a person. The trial court convicted and sentenced the accused to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life with a fine under Section 302 IPC. The Allahabad High Court affirmed this order.

The Supreme Court had to determine whether the accused was to be held guilty of the offence under Section 304 Part I or Part II of the IPC as against Section 302 IPC.

The second question for consideration was whether the accused’s act of engaging in celebratory firing during a marriage ceremony could be construed as an act so imminently dangerous that it could cause death in all probability.

Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma observed, “The present case is a direct example of the disastrous consequences of such uncontrolled and unwarranted celebratory firing. In the absence of any evidence on record to suggest that either that the Appellant aimed at and / or pointed at the large crowd whilst engaging in such celebratory firing; or there existed any prior enmity between the Deceased and the Appellant, we find ourselves unable to accept the Prosecution’s version of events.”

Advocate Sanjay Kumar Dubey appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad appeared for the Respondent.

The Court noted that there was no known prior enmity between the deceased and the accused and stated that “no intention may be attributed to the Appellant as may be culled out from the record to cause death of the Deceased.”

"There can be no qualm about the fact that the Appellant opened fire in a crowded place i.e., a marriage ceremony without taking reasonable measures for safety, which led to the unfortunate demise of the Deceased," the Court remarked.

Therefore, the Court held that the accused was guilty of culpable homicide within Section 299 IPC punishable under Section 304 Part IPC, and set aside the conviction under Section 302 IPC.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal.

Cause Title: Shahid Ali v. The State of Uttar Pradesh (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 191)

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Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates Sanjay Kumar Dubey, Shuchi Singh, Rakesh Kumar Tewari, Krishna Kant Dubey, Ujjwal Kumar Dubey, Vivek Kumar Pandey, Aman Kumar, Sandeep Kumar Saini

Respondent: Sr. A.A.G Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain