Mannam Balaswamy vs State Of Andhra Pradesh
- SCC(1980) 1 SCC 680
- AIRAIR 1980 SC 448
Ratio decidendi
The rule this decision rests on
Where an accused person, during a quarrel with one person, attacks and kills an innocent third party who merely intervenes to stop the fight, the killing cannot be said to have been committed under sudden and grave provocation within Section 304(1) of the Indian Penal Code, and the offence constitutes murder under Section 302. An accused who, after a moment of pause, leaves the scene of an altercation to fetch a weapon and then uses it to inflict fatal injuries demonstrates a deliberate and considered act of violence rather than an act committed in the heat of provocation, and such conduct precludes reliance on the defence of provocation.
Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.
Judgment
As delivered
1. The appeal by special leave is directed against the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh by which it set aside the acquittal of the appellant under Section 302 and convicted the appellant under the said section to imprisonment for life. The trial Court had convicted the accused under Section 304(1) of I.P.C. and sentenced him to 5 years' R.I. on the ground that as the assault to the deceased was caused by the appellants due to sudden and grave provocation his case fell within the ambit of Section 304(1) of I.P.C.
2. We have heard Counsel for the parties and have also gone through the judgement of the Courts below. According to the prosecution, there was some dispute between the deceased and his father and on the date of occurrence, the appellant was quarrelling with his father when the deceased came there and intervened in the struggle and pushed aside the appellant. Thereafter the appellant went into his room and came with a knife and inflicted two stab injuries one on the chest and the other on the left side of the abdomen of the deceased. As a result of these injuries the deceased died. We are rather surprised how the trial Court took the view that the case of the appellant fully within the preview of Section 304(1) of I.P.C. There was no question of any sudden and grave provocation at all. In fact the appellant tried to assault the innocent intervenor in the quarrel between him and his father. Secondly, the act of the appellant was a cruel act and he took undue advantage of the situation because instead of keeping quiet he went to the room and brought a knife in order to cause the death of the deceased who was as innocent intervenor. We are, therefore, satisfied that the view taken by the trial Court on the question of law was absolutely wrong and High Court was, therefore, right in setting aside the acquittal of the appellant under Section 302. On the facts proved in the case, in our opinion no other view was possible. We, therefore, affirm the judgment of the High Court and dismiss the appeal.
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