this document gives a summary of the case of Kesar Singh and Anr. vs. State of Haryana, Summaries of Law of Evidence

Download this document gives a summary of the case of Kesar Singh and Anr. vs. State of Haryana and more Summaries Law of Evidence in PDF only on Docsity! Kesar Singh and Anr. vs. State of Haryana [MANU/SC/7535/2008] S.B. Sinha, J. 1. Leave granted. Fact 2. Hardev Singh was a resident of Derabassi. He was a teacher. He, along with Karam Chand, came to village Budhanpur to meet his father on 24.4.1988. There was a vacant land in front of their house which was in possession of Pala Ram and others. It was a Shamlat land. They were digging foundation. Ujjagar Singh, father of Hardev Singh, asked them to leave some passage for their house whereupon Pala Ram exhorted that the old man should be taught a lesson. Ujjagar Singh shouted for help. Appellant and Karam Chand, on hearing his shouts came out. They saw Kesar Singh giving a Kassi (Spade) blow from the reverse side on the head of Hardev Singh's father. He fell down. He was taken to primary health centre. He was referred to the General Hospital. However, on 30.4.1988, his condition having deteriorated, he was referred to Medical Sciences and Research, Chandigarh for treatment. He succumbed to his injuries on 1.5.1988. Proceedings 3. Appellants were charged for commission of an offence under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Sessions Judge accepted the prosecution case. He, however, opined that no case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was made out, stating: I, however, find force in the contention of learned defence counsel that the case in hand does not fall within ambit of Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. It is admitted case of the prosecution that the occurrence was not the result of pre- meditation. The accused were filling foundation on the shamlat-street which was objected to by the deceased. There was a sudden fight and heat of passion accused Kesar Singh gave kassi blow on the head of Ujjagar Singh on the exhortation of Pala Ram accused. It was a single blow and that too from the blunt side of the Kassi. The crime committed by the accused is culpable homicide not amounting to murder as envisaged by Section 300 (Exception-4) IPC, punishable under Section 304I of the Indian Penal Code. 4. On an appeal having been preferred thereagainst, a learned Single Judge of the High Court, while relying on the decision of this Court in Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab MANU/SC/0041/1958 : 1958CriLJ818 as also in Shankar Narayan Bhadolkar v. State of Maharashtra MANU/SC/0199/2004 : 2004CriLJ1778 , opined: Applying the principles of law, as noticed hereinafter, I am of the considered opinion, that the offence committed by the appellants does not fall within the definition of Section 300 of the IPC, nor does it fall within the definition of offence, punishable under Section 304II of the Indian Penal Code. In my considered opinion, the learned trial Court rightly held that the nature of the offence, falls within the definition of Section 304I of the IPC Section 304 deals with situations, where culpable homicide does not amount to murder, i.e. does not fall within the definition of murder, as contained in Section 300 of the IPC. Section 304 is sub-divided into two parts. If an injury is inflicted with the knowledge and intention that it is likely to cause death, but with no intention to cause death the offence would fall within the definition of Section 304I, however, if there is no intention to cause such an injury, but there is knowledge that such an injury can cause death, the offence would fall within the definition of Section 304II. Thus, is intention. If intention to cause such an injury as is likely to cause death, is established, the offence would fall under Part-I but where no such intention is established and only knowledge that the injury is likely to cause death, it would fall under Part-II. It was, however, observed: However, the nature of the injury, the weapon of offence, the intention and knowledge of the assailants, in my considered opinion, clearly places the offence as one under Section 304I of the IPC. Appellant No.1 inflicted the injury with knowledge and intention that the injury, if inflicted is likely to cause death, but with no intention to cause death. However, as from the facts and circumstances of the present case, and the fact that it was a sudden fight, a single blow inflicted with the reverse side of a Kassi, it cannot be stated that he had an intention to cause death, as required to make out an offence under Section 300 of the IPC. Contentions 5. Mr. Dinesh Verma, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, would submit that the very fact that the fight was a sudden one and single blow has been inflicted with the reverse side of a Kassi, the case would fall under Section 304 Part-II of the Indian Penal Code (for short, 'the Code') and not Part-I thereof. 6. Mr. Rajeev Gaur 'Naseem', learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent, on the other hand, would contend that even in a situation of this nature, Part-I of Section 304 would apply. The Statute 7. Chapter XVI of the Code deals with offences affecting the human body. Section 299 defines 'culpable homicide'. Section 300, on the other hand, defines 'murder'. Several exceptions are curved out therefrom. Exceptions specified therein are also subject to certain exceptions as contained in the provisos appended thereto; one of them is when the offender commits the murder whilst deprived of the power of self-control by grave and sudden provocation causing the death of the deceased. The second exception deals with exceeding the power in exercise in good faith or the right of private defence of the person or property on the part of the accused. Exception 3 applies to a public servant of aiding another public servant with which we are not concerned. A note of caution at this juncture must be stated. Knowledge and intention should not be confused. Section 299 in defining first two categories does not deal with the knowledge whereas it does in relation to the third category. It would also be relevant to bear in mind the import of the terms "likely by such act to cause death". Herein again lies a distinction as 'likely' would mean probably and not possibly. When an intended injury is likely to cause death, the same would mean an injury which is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death which in turn would mean that death will be the most probable result. A. Virsa Singh Standard 15. The locus classicus operating in the field is Virsa Singh (supra). We may notice the judgment at some details: Facts : In Virsa Singh, the appellant therein was sentenced to imprisonment for life under Section 302 I.P.C. There was only one injury on the deceased and that was attributed to him. It was caused as a result of the spear thrust and the Doctor opined that the injury was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The Courts also found that the whole affair was sudden and occurred on a chance meeting. Peritonitis also supervened which hastened the death of the deceased. It was contended that the prosecution has not proved that there was an intention to inflict a bodily injury that was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature and therefore the offence was not one of murder. This contention was rejected. We may notice the findings under different heads: 1. What must the prosecution prove? It was observed that the prosecution must prove the following facts before it can bring a case under Section 300, "thirdly". First, it must establish quite objectively, that a bodily injury is present; secondly the nature of the injury must be proved. These are purely objective investigations. Thirdly, it must be proved that there was an intention to inflict that particular injury, that is to say, that it was not accidental or unintentional or that some other kind of injury was intended. Once these three elements are proved to be present, the enquiry proceeds further, and fourthly it must be proved that the injury of the type just described made up of the three elements set out above was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. This part of the enquiry is purely objective and inferential and has nothing to do with the intention of the offender. 2. The Standard Laid Down It was said that the intention that the section requires must be related, not only to the bodily injury inflicted, but also to the clause, "and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. This is a favourite argument in this kind of case but may not be entirely correct. If there is an intention to inflict an injury that is sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature, then the intention is to kill and in that event, the "thirdly" would be unnecessary because the act would fall under the first part of the section, namely - If the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death. In our opinion, the two clauses are disjunctive and separate. The first is subjective to the offender: If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person. It must, of course, first be found that bodily injury was caused and the nature of the injury must be established, that is to say, whether the injury is on the leg or the arm or the stomach, how deep it penetrated, whether any vital organs were cut and so forth. These are purely objective facts and leave no room for inference or deduction : to that extent the enquiry is objective; but when it comes to the question of intention, that is subjective to the offender and it must be proved that he had an intention to cause the bodily injury that is found to be present. Once that is found, the enquiry shifts to the next clause- and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. The first part of this is descriptive of the earlier part of the section, namely, the infliction of bodily injury with the intention to inflict it, that is to say, if the circumstances justify an inference that a man's intention was only to inflict a blow on the lower part of the leg, or some lesser blow, and it can be shown that the blow landed in the region of the heart by accident, then, though an injury to the heart is shown to be present, the intention to inflict an injury in that region, or of that nature, is not proved. In that case, the first part of the clause does not come into play. But once it is proved that there was an intention to inflict the injury that is found to be present, then the earlier part of the clause we are now examining - "and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted" is merely descriptive. All it means is that it is not enough to prove that the injury found to be present is sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature; it must in addition be shown that the injury is of the kind that falls within the earlier clause, namely, that the injury found to be present was the injury that was intended to be inflicted. Whether it was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature is a matter of inference or deduction from the proved facts about the nature of the injury and has nothing to be with the question of intention. In considering whether the intention was to inflict the injury found to have been inflicted, the enquiry necessarily proceeds on broad lines as, for example, whether there was an intention to strike at a vital or a dangerous part of the body, and whether with sufficient force to cause the kind of injury found to have been inflicted. It is, of course, not necessary to inquire into every last detail as, for instance, whether the accused intended to have the bowels fall out, or whether he intended to penetrate the liver or the kidneys or the heart. Otherwise, a man who has no knowledge of anatomy could never be convicted, for, if he does not know that there is a heart or a kidney or bowels, he cannot be said to have intended to injure them. Of course, that is not the kind of enquiry. It is broad based and simple and based on commonsense : the kind of enquiry that "an ordinary man" could readily appreciate and understand. To put it shortly, the prosecution must prove the following facts before it can bring a case under Section 300, "3rdly": First, it must establish, quite objectively, that a bodily injury is present; Secondly, the nature of the injury must be proved; These are purely objective investigations. Thirdly, it must be proved that there was an intention to inflict that particular bodily injury, that is to say, that it was not accidental or unintentional, or that some other kind of injury was intended. Once these three elements are proved to be present, the enquiry proceeds further and, Fourthly, it must be proved that the injury of the type just described made up of the three elements set out above is sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. This part of the enquiry is purely objective and inferential and has nothing to do with the intention of the offender. Once these four elements are established by the prosecution (and, indisputably, the burden is on the prosecution throughout) the offence is murder under Section 300, "3rdly". It does not matter that there was no intention to cause death. It does not matter that there was no intention even to cause an injury of a kind that is sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature (not that there is any real distinction between the two). It does not even matter that there is no knowledge that an act of that kind will be likely to cause death. Once the intention to cause the bodily injury is actually found to be proved, the rest of the enquiry is purely objective and the only question is whether, as a matter of purely objective inference, the injury is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. No one has a licence to run around inflicting injuries that are sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature and claim that they are not guilty of murder. If they inflict injuries of that kind, they must face the consequences; and they can only escape if it can be shown, or reasonably deduced that the injury was accidental or otherwise unintentional." B. The Different Views Hence, the question of whether the injury is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death is an objective enquiry. The accused need not have knowledge as whether the injury he strike at a vital or a dangerous spot, and whether with sufficient force to cause the kind of injury found to have been inflicted. It is, of course, not necessary to enquire into every last detail as, for instance, whether the prisoner intended to have the bowels fall out, or whether he intended to penetrate the liver or the kidneys or the heart. Otherwise, a man who has no knowledge of anatomy could never be convict, for, if he does not know that there is a heart or a kidney or bowels, he cannot be said to have intended to injure them. Of course, that is not the kind of enquiry. It is broad-based and simple and based on commonsense; the kind of enquiry that 'twelve good men and true' could readily appreciate and understand. 17. In determining the question even the manner in which the injury was inflicted and his knowledge as to whether it would be a severe one or a serious one would also be a relevant factor. (See also State of Andhra Pradesh v. Rayavarapu Punnayya and Anr. MANU/SC/0180/1976 : 1977CriLJ1 . 18. In a case where the death occurred after nine days, this Court opined that the prosecution failed to objectively prove the injury sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. [See Jayraj v. State of Tamil Nadu MANU/SC/0124/1976 : 1976CriLJ1186 . 19. For the said purpose, the circumstances surrounding the incident would also be relevant. In Patel Rasiklal Becharbhai and Ors. v. State of Gujarat 1993 Supp.(1) SCC 217 and Gurdeep Singh v. Jaswant Singh and Ors. MANU/SC/0186/1992 : 1992CriLJ1283 , in a situation of this nature, this Court held Part-II of Section 304 to be applicable. Knowledge v. Intention 20. We must keep in mind the distinction between knowledge and intention. Knowledge in the context of Section 299 would, inter alia, mean consciousness or realization or understanding. The distinction between the terms 'knowledge' and 'intention' again is a difference of degrees. An inference of knowledge that it is likely to cause death must be arrived at keeping in view the fact situation obtaining in each case. The accused must be aware of the consequences of his act. 21. Knowledge denotes a bare state of conscious awareness of certain facts in which the human mind might itself remain supine or inactive whereas intention connotes a conscious state in which mental faculties are roused into activity and summed up into action for the deliberate purpose of being directed towards a particular and specific end which the human mind conceives and perceives before itself. This was discussed extensively in Jai Prakash v. State (Delhi Administration) MANU/SC/0526/1991 : [1991]1SCR202 , stating: ...We may note at this state that 'intention' is different from 'motive' or 'ignorance' or 'negligence'. It is the 'knowledge' or 'intention' with which the act is done that makes difference, in arriving at a conclusion whether the offence is culpable homicide or murder. Therefore, it is necessary to know the meaning of these expressions as used in these provisions.... The 'intention' and 'knowledge' of the accused are subjective and invisible states of mind and their existence has to be gathered from the circumstances, such as the, weapon used, the ferocity of attack, multiplicity of injuries and all other surrounding circumstances. The framers of the code designedly used the words 'intention' and 'knowledge' and it is accepted that the knowledge of the consequences which may result in doing an act is not the same thing as the intention that such consequences should ensue. Firstly, when an act is done by a person, it is presumed that he must have been aware that certain specified harmful consequences would or could follow. But that knowledge is bare awareness and not the same thing as intention that such consequences should ensue. As compared to 'knowledge', 'intention' requires something more than the mere foresight of the consequences, namely the purposeful doing of a thing to achieve a particular end. Kenny in "Outlines of Criminal Law" (17th Edition at page 31) has observed: Intention: To intend is to have in mind a fixed purpose to reach a desired objective; the noun 'intention' in the present connection is used to denote the state of mind of a man who not only foresees but also desires the possible consequences of his conduct. Thus if one man throws another from a high tower or cuts off his head it would seem plain that he both foresees the victim's death and also desires it: the desire and the foresight will also be the same if a person knowingly leaves a helpless invalid or infant without nourishment or other necessary support until death supervenes. It will be noted that there cannot be intention unless there is also foresight, since a man must decide to his own satisfaction, and accordingly must foresee, that to which his express purpose is directed. Again, a man cannot intend to do a thing unless he desires to do it. It may well be a thing that he dislikes doing, but he dislikes still more the consequences of his not doing it. That is to say he desires the lesser of two evils, and therefore has made up his mind to bring about that one. Russell on Crime (12th Edition at Page 41) has observed: In the present analysis of the mental element in crime the word 'intention' is used to denote the mental attitude of a man who has resolved to bring about a certain result if he can possibly do so. He shapes his line of conduct so as to achieve a particular end at which he aims. It can thus be seen that the 'knowledge' as contrasted with 'intention' signifies a state of mental realisation with the bare state of conscious awareness of certain facts in which human mind remains supine or inactive. On the other hand, 'intention' is a conscious state in which mental faculties are aroused into activity and summoned into action for the purpose of achieving a conceived end. It means shaping of one's conduct so as to bring about a certain event. Therefore in the case of 'intention' mental faculties are projected in a set direction. Intention need not necessarily involve premeditation. Whether there is such an intention or not is a question of fact.  Law Applicable in this case 22. Keeping in view the aforementioned legal principles in mind, we may notice the facts of the present case. In the instant case, the reverse side of a kassi was used by the accused to hit the deceased on his head, a vital part of the body. The force with which these injuries were inflicted cannot be disputed either given the internal injuries these led to death as would appear from the injury report as also post mortem report which read as under: 1. Lacerated wound 3cm x = cm x 1 cm present on the left frontal region of the skull. Margin of the injury was irregular and injury was about 3 inches above the medical end of left eye brow. This injury was present over a contusion about 2 inches x 2 inches reddish blue in condition. Patient was referred to General Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh for X-ray skull and observation. 2. Contusion 2" x 1" present over the upper right eye bluish in colouration. 3. Complaints of pain over right shoulder. Tenderness positive X X X 1) Black eye right with contusion all around. 2) Stitched wound scalp right side 1 inch in size. 3) Fracture of the frontal bone right side. With extra-dural and subdural hemorrhage. But hole on the right temper of parietal area. Stomach was empty. Rest of the organs were normal. In my opinion cause of death was shock and hemorrhage due to head injury. Injury was anti mortem in nature and was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. Further, the exhortation by the accused, just before he struck the deceased, that he needed to teach the deceased a lesson, also shows that he intended to hit him on the head. Hence, looking at all these facts and circumstances, intention to cause the bodily injury in question is proved. Further, due to the inapplicability of Explanation 4, there is nothing on facts to rebut this presumption of intention. Hence, the first part of S.300 "Thirdly" is proved.