Holding

The Court held that the offence, though committed with intent to cause death, constitutes culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(Part I) of the IPC.

Summary

The appellant, Indrasan, was convicted of murder for striking the deceased, Jawahar, on the head with a lathi, causing death within an hour. The trial and High Courts upheld the conviction under Section 302 IPC, imposing life imprisonment. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the eyewitness testimony, the prompt lodging of the FIR, the motive arising from a dispute over cattle, and the nature of the injury caused by a single lathi blow. While acknowledging that the accused intended to cause death, the Court held that the facts amounted to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(Part I) IPC. Consequently, the conviction was altered to Section 304(Part I) and the sentence reduced to ten years' imprisonment.

Issues considered

Whether the act of delivering a single lathi blow with intent to cause death constitutes murder under Section 302 IPC or culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304(Part I) IPC
Whether the intention to cause death can be inferred from the nature of the injury and the circumstances
Whether the prompt filing of the FIR and lack of delay affect the presumption of a genuine incident
Whether a motive established from a prior cattle dispute influences the classification of the offence

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302, s. 304(Part I)

Subjects

murderculpable homicide not amounting to murderintentionlathi blowmotiveFIR delaylife imprisonmentsentence reductionIPC

Judgment

(2009] 9 S.C.R. 1127

INDRASAN A
v.
STATE OF U.P.
(Criminal Appeal No. 996 of 2004)
JULY 6, 2009
B
[DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA AND DR. 8.S.
... CHAUHAN, JJ.]

Penal Code, 1860 - s. 304 (Part I) - Murder - By single
lathi blow - Prosecution relying on version of eye-witnesses c
and motive for assault - FIR lodged within reasonable time
- Conviction by courts below u/s. 302 - On appeal, held:
Intention of accused to cause death proved - However, it is a
case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder -
... Conviction altered to one u/s. 304(Part I) - Sentence of life D
imprisonment altered to custody of 1O years.

Appellant-accused was prosecuted for having
caused death of one person by giving a lathi blow on his
head. As per prosecution, PWs. 1, 2 and 3 were the eye-
witnesses to the incident. Trial Court convicted the E
appellant uls. 302 IPC. High Court confirmed the
conviction. Hence the present appeal. -

Partly allowing the appeal, the Court
F
HELD: 1.1. The incident had taken place in broad day
light in the presence of PW-1, PW-2 and PW-3. The
defense has not raised any dispute with regard to the
aforesaid fact nor any suggestion was given to the
aforesaid eye- witnesses as against their statements that
G
they were present at the time of incident and they had
seen the entire incident. Their presence at the placj! of
occurrence was quite natural. [Para 7] [1131-0-E; 1132-
A]
1127 H
1128 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 9 S.C.R.

A 1.2. There is no delay in the lodging of the FIR. There
is also no possibility of any concoction of the incident as
there was no scope of framing anybody unnecessarily
and without reason within that short span of time. The
motive for the murder has also been established. [Para
B 7] [1131-G; 1132-A]

1.3. The lathi blow was so forceful that as a
consequence of which·the deceased died within an hour .t-
and before he could be taken to the hospital. There is a
direct nexus ·between the blow of lathi and death c:>f the
C deceased which is immediately caused after giving the
blow. [Para 11] [1134-B-C]

1.4. Although it is a case of culpable homicide not
amounting to murder, but considering the nature of the .
o injuries which was caused on a vital part of the body, ·
there was intention on the part of the accused-appellant -t"
to cause death of the deceased. Therefore, the conviction
of the appellant is altered from Section 302 IPC to Section
304 (Part I) IPC. Sentence of life imprisonment altered to
E custody and sentence of 10 years. [Paras 12 and 13]
[1134-C-E]
State of Orissa v. Bhagaban Barik AIR 1987 SC 1265;
State of U.P. v. lndrajeet (2000) 7 SCC 249; Joseph v. State
of Kera/a AIR 1994 SC 34 and Mohd. Shakeel v. State of
F A.P. (2007) 3 SCC 119, distinguished.
Case Law Reference:
AIR 1987 SC 1265 Distinguished. Para 10

G (2000) 1 sec 249 Distinguished. Para 10
AIR 1994 SC 34 Distinguished. Para 10
c2001) 3 sec 119 Distinguished. Para 10

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
H
INDRASAN v. STATE OF U.P. . 1129

No. 996 of 2004. A

From the Judgment and Order dated 16.4.2003 of the High
Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Appeal bearing
number 1996 of 1981.
B
Vipin Singhania and Manjula Gupta for the Appellants.

T.N. Singh, S.K. Dwivedi, Vandana Mishra, Shirish Kr.
Mishra and Praveen Swarup for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by c
DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA, J. 1. This appeal has
been preferred by the appellant who has been convicted by the
Sessions Court as also by the High Court under Section 302
IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life.
D
2. The deceased was one Jawahar who was murdered on
14.10.1979 at about 8.00 AM. in Village Marrie, Police Station
Nichlaul, District Gorakhpur. The prosecution story in brief is
that in the said village there was a Government Gausadan (a
campus with pasture land where cattle are brought up and E
looked after) spreading over an area of about 562 acres. Within
the said area is also located certain residential premises for
the employees of the Gausadan. The grasses were also grown
in Gausadan and contract of growing such grass in Gausadan
was given by the Government through auction and one
F
Harendra Singh who was a contractor was given the said
contract Goverpal Harijan was one of the employees in the
Gausadan and on account of his illness, his son Jawahar
(deceased) was performing his duties in the Gausadan.

3. On 13.10.1979 at about 2.00 p.m. about 30-40 catties G
including the buffaloes of Goverpal Harijan were grazing in the
pasture land of Gausadan. Since they were eating the grasses
for which there was a contract, a person on behalf of the
contractor Harendra Singh came and collected all the catties
. including buffaloes and took them to the contractor Harendra H
1130 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 9 S.C.R.

)
A Singh. Thereafter, Jawahar and other owners of the cattle went
to Harendra Singh and requested him to release their cattle.
Harendra Singh permitted Jawahar to take away his buffalo and
also released the cattle of the other persons.

4. On 14.10.1979 i.e. the next day in the morning time,
B
Ram Prahlad, Sahdeo, Pratap, the appellant lndrasan and 2-3
persons were sitting in the verandah of Gausadan. The
appellant-lndrasan had lathi with him. While they were so sitting .
in the verandah of the Gausadan, Jawahar happened to arrive
there. The appellant-lndrasan who was the employee of
c contractor Harendra Singh took up his lathi and suddenly rushed
towards Jawahar and gave a lathi blow on his head as a result
of which he sustained head injury and fell down. As a
consequence of the said lathi blow on the head, deceased- --
Jawahar succumbed to his injuries immediately thereafter. Ram
D Prahlad went to the house of Goverpal and informed him about
the fatal injuries caused to his son. Goverpal came to Gausadan
+·
and found his son lying there dead. He then went to the police
station Nichlaul, where he lodged the written F.l.R. on the same
day at 11.05 a.m. The distance of the police station from the
E place of occurrence was six miles. On information, a case was
registered and investigation was entrusted to S.I. Vinod Kumar
Yadav (PW-7). Post mortem examination was also carried on
~
the body ofthe deceased-Jawahar. In the said post mortem
examination, one injury was found by the doctor on the head of
F the deceased which was of the following nature : -
-
"Lacerated wound on left parietal region 5 cm x 1 cm x
skull deep, 8 cm above left ear. n

5. In support of its case, the prosecution examined all
G seven witnesses. Ram Prahlad (PW-1), Sahdeo (PW-2) and f
Ram Pratap (PW-3) were the eye witnesses of the occurrence. ......
Goverpal (PW-4), the father of the deceased was also
examined. The defense raised on behalf of the accused was
one of denial and also of false implication due to enmity. In
(

H
INDRASAN v. STATE OF U.P. 1131
[DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA, J.]
examination under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal A

-· Procedure, 1973 (for short "the CrPC"), the accused-appellant
stated that when Harendra Singh was Thekedar of grass of
Gausadan, he used to look after the affairs of Gausadan on his
behalf. Goverpal and other witnesses of the case and the
. villagers often used to graze their cattle in the grass of B
Gausadan and he used to hand over their cattle at the cattle
....,. pond. Thus, people started having grudge against him resulting
~
in his false implication in this case. On completion of the trial,

1
. the learned Sessions Judge found the appellant guilty of the
offence alleged against him and accordingly convicted him and c
passed an order of sentence of imprisonment for life.

6. On appeal, the High Court affirmed the order of
conviction and sentence as against which the present appeal
has been filed on which we have heard the learned counsel
-;. appearing for the parties. D

?- The incident had taken place on 14.10.1979 at about 8
a.m. and there is no dispute with regard to the aforesaid fact
that there was broad day light and the incident happened in the
/
' presence of PW-1, PW-2 and PW-3. The defense has not E
raised any dispute with regard to the aforesaid fact nor any
suggestion was given to the aforesaid eye witnesses namely
~
Ram Prahlad (PW-1), Sahdeo (PW-2) and Ram Pratap (PW-
3) as against their statements that they were present at the time
of incident and they had seen the entire incident through their
F
own eyes. The incident happened at about 8 a.m. when the
deceased-Jawahar received the aforesaid fatal blow at the
hand of the accused-appellant. The deceased-Jawahar died at
about 9 a.m. due to excessive bleeding as is established from
the post mortem report. The distance of the police station from
Ji
the place of occurrence is six miles. The father of the deceased- G
-· Jawahar was informed whereupon he came to the place of
occurrence and on seeing his son dead, went to lodge an FIR
at the Police Station Nichlaul which was registered at 11.05
a.m. There is, therefore, no delay in the lodging of the FIR.
H
1132 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 9 S.C.R.

)
A There is also no possibility of any ~oncoction of the incident
as there was no scope of framing anybody unnecessarily and .....
without reason within that short span of time. The incident
happened in broad day light in front of eye witnesses whose
presence at the place of occurrence was quite natural. There
B is also motive for the murder established in the case from the
fact that.a day before the occurrence i.e. on 13.10.1979, the
catties of some persons including the buffaloes of the father of
the deceased-Jawahar were taken away from the grazing field ·~

of Gausadan by the accused-appellant and subsequently,
c buffaloes of the father of the deceased-Jawahar were released.
Since the buffaloes belonged to the father of the deceased-
Jawahar which were impounded and taken to the contractor-
Harendra but was released subsequently, therefore, there was
some grudge of the accused-appellant being an employee of
the contractor-Harendra against the deceased-Jawahar and
D when on the next day, early in the morning he saw the deceased
-\-
he got infuriated and without any reason approached the
deceased-Jawahar after picking up his lathi and gave blow on
the· head with the help of his lathi and thereafter the accused-
appellant ran away from the scene of occurrence. So, the motive
E has also been established. /

--.
8. Counsel appearing for the accused- appellant, however,
submitted before us that there was no intention of causing death i
or causing any bodily injury to the deceased by the accused- ~--.

F appellant. It was also submitted before us that all the three eye
witnesses namely Ram Prahlad (PW-1 ), Sahdeo (PW-2) and
Ram Pratap (PW-3) are interested witnesses and that other
witnesses although present at the scene of occurrence, they
were not examined by the prosecution. Accordingly the
conviction and sentence is required to be set aside. It was next
G
submitted by the counsel appearing for the accused-appellant
that the weapon of alleged attack was not a dangerous weapon
and was only a lathi and allegedly only one blow was given by
f

-
the accused-appellant on the deceased which clearly
establishes that it is neither a case of murder nor could be a
H
INDRASAN v. STATE OF U.P. 1133
[DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA, J.]
Ir.
case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. In support A

-· of aforesaid contention, he has relied upon few decisions of
this Court namely State of Orissa v. Bhagaban Barik [AIR 1987
SC 1265], State of U.P. v. lndrajeet [(2000) 7 SCC 249],
Joseph v. State of Kera/a [AIR 1994 SC 34), Mohd. Shakeel
v. State of A.P. [(2007) 3 sec 119]. B

9. We have considered the aforesaid submissions as also
-1 the ratio of the aforesaid cases. After carefully going through
the same we, however, find that none of the aforesaid decisions
could be said to be directly applicable in the present case as
the facts are quite distinguishable. So the same have no
c

- '

...,.
application in the facts and circumstances of the present case
and we are required to consider the facts of the case
independently.

10. In Bhagaban Barik case (supra), there was an appeal D
before this Court as against the order of acquittal. In that case
one blow was given by the accused with a lathi on the
apprehension that the deceased was a thief. In lndrajeet case
(supra) also, there was an appeal against acquittal and
therefore it has no similarity with the facts and circumstances E
of the present case. In Joseph case (supra) although the death
was caused by one blow of lathi but there was clear evidence
,_ of quarrel between the parties preceding the incident. In Mohd.
..... Shakeel case (supra) the accused also received injuries during
the course of the incident and taking notice of the said fact, it F
was held to be a case of culpable homicide not amounting to
murder. Clearly, all the decisions relied upon by the accused-
appellant are quite distinguishable.

11. We are required to examine the facts of the present
case as it stand before us. The submission that there was no G
1
~· motive in committing the offence is clearly belied from the fact
'
~
that the motive has been established in the present case. The
accused-appellant being an employee of the contractor
definitely had a grudge against the deceased as the buffaloes
I>--
belonging to the father of the deceased were impounded and H
1134 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 9 S.C.R.

A taken to the contractor by the accused-appellant on 13. 10.1979
and the same were released on repeated requests by the
deceased. Therefore, there was a clear grudge of the employee .
~--
of the contractor, accused-appellant against the deceased. I
When on the very next day morning i.e. 14.10.1979, the '
B accused-appellant saw the face of the deceased he simply
picked up his lathi and with that gave one blow on the head of
the deceased. The said blow was so forceful that as a
consequence of which the deceased died within an hour and r
~ ~

before he could be taken to the hospital. There is a direct nexus
c between the blow of lathi and death of the deceased which is
immediately caused after giving the blow.

12. We, therefore, are of the considered opinion that
)
although it is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to
murder, but considering the nature of the injuries which was
D caused on ~vital part of the body, we are of the considered
~'.t
view that there was intention on the part of the accused- t "
appellant to cause death of the deceased. '
I
J--
r-
. 13. We, therefore, alter the conviction of the appellant from
E Section 302, IPC to Section 304 Part I IPC. In our considered
opinion, custody and sentence of 10 years would be ,.
. appropriate and sufficient. The accused-appellant shall undergo
imprisonment for a term of 1O years,. if not already undergone,
~

F
in terms of this order.

14._With the above mo~ification, the appeal is allowed to
-
the aforesaid extent.

K.K.T. Appeal partly allowed.