Summary
The Supreme Court upheld the appellant's conviction under Section 304 Part I IPC for killing the deceased with a cement brick during a midnight altercation, but reduced the five-year sentence to the period already undergone. The Court doubted that Exception 1 (grave and sudden provocation) applied, observing that Exception 4 (sudden fight) would have been the apt basis, but left the conviction undisturbed as the State had not appealed.
Issues
- What must be established to bring a case within Exception 1 to Section 300 IPC (grave and sudden provocation), and on whom the burden lies.
- Whether the facts, an abusive and slapping deceased struck with a brick at the spur of the moment, attracted Exception 1 or rather Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC.
- Whether the conviction and sentence under Section 304 Part I IPC called for interference.
Provisions considered
- Section 300, Exception 1, Indian Penal Code, 1860The Court set out the conditions for grave and sudden provocation: provocation by the deceased that is both grave and sudden, consequent loss of self-control, and the killing during that loss; gravity is judged objectively by the reasonable person of the accused's society, and the response must not be out of proportion. Mere bad words and a slap were said not to be sufficient by themselves. (¶¶ 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30)
- Section 300, Exception 4, Indian Penal Code, 1860The Court observed that if the courts below wished to treat the case as culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Exception 4 was the appropriate route: the incident was unplanned, occurred at the spur of the moment, and the appellant, unarmed, used a stone lying at the spot without taking undue advantage or acting cruelly. (¶¶ 29, 31)
- Section 304 Part I, Indian Penal Code, 1860The conviction under this provision recorded by the Trial Court and affirmed by the High Court was left undisturbed, with only the sentence reduced. (¶¶ 1, 12, 32, 34)
- Section 105, Indian Evidence Act, 1872Applied to hold that the accused bears the burden of proving the circumstances bringing the case within Exception 1 once the prosecution prima facie proves that his act caused the death. (¶¶ 27, 28)
Held
- Exception 1 to Section 300 IPC applies only where the deceased gave provocation that was both grave and sudden, the accused was thereby deprived of self-control, and he caused death while so deprived; provocation that is grave but not sudden, or sudden but not grave, does not suffice. (¶¶ 19, 20, 22, 23)
- Suddenness requires that the provocation be unexpected and that the interval before the homicide be brief; gravity is tested objectively by asking whether a reasonable member of the accused's society would lose self-control, so an ordinary exchange of abuse does not qualify; once grave and sudden provocation is shown, loss of self-control is generally assumed. (¶ 24)
- The court must ask whether a person of ordinary sense and calmness in the accused's position would have reacted as he did; a reaction out of all proportion to the provocation falls outside the exception. (¶¶ 25, 26)
- Under Section 105 of the Evidence Act the burden of proving the circumstances of Exception 1 lies on the accused once the prosecution prima facie establishes that his act caused the death. (¶¶ 27, 28)
- The deceased's bad words and slap were not by themselves sufficient to amount to grave and sudden provocation; the courts below could instead have invoked Exception 4, as the incident was unpremeditated, occurred at the spur of the moment, and the unarmed appellant used a cement stone lying at the spot without taking undue advantage or acting in a cruel or unusual manner. As the State had not appealed, the Court did not disturb the conviction. (¶¶ 17, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- Having regard to the appellant having undergone about four years of imprisonment for an incident of 2007, the ends of justice were met by reducing the sentence to the period already undergone. (¶¶ 16, 33)
Result
Appeal partly allowed; conviction under Section 304 Part I IPC upheld; sentence reduced to the period already undergone; pending applications disposed of.