BIPIN BIHARI v. STATE OF M.P

Citation: [2006] SUPP. 6 S.C.R. 412

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: ARIJIT PASAYAT, LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA

Case summary

BIPIN BIHARI v. STATE OF M.P.pdf

Judgment text

. ;. BIPIN . BIHARI . V. ··. STATE OF M.. P•.... · SEPTEMBER 20; ioo6 .. ···•. -.... [ARIJIT PASAYAT AND LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA; JJ. ) . · ··-: - ' . . . . . . . -.. . : Penal Code, I 860; S. 307: . ' - '• .. .. . · Acc~sedr~straini~g;ister-mc1mv ofco~plainanifro',; cuuing the crops- . ·C~mplainant intervene~A~cusedfired giiii injitring the c~mplaina~t~Trial . Court found aciwed guiltY of committing crime under Section. 307 and . · . sentencedhim ilnpris;,,,mentfor life anJalso imposedfine.. ,. Conviction affirmed · · by HighCourlreduCing the sentence hut increasing the fine to Rs. 30,0001-·-. On appeal; Held: For eo1JVlction under Section 307, inflictio~ ofbodily injury. . capableofcausing death is not e~sential-lntent to comwit ihe crime coupied 1i•ith soine _ol'er{act in execution thereofis sufficient to justify ihe cOnviction-· lnttntion could be . ascertainedfrom nature ofinjury inflicted and also other .

Q11endini circ;un1staiices-:-ln thefaCts andCircumstanCes ofthe case~·custOdial sentence oftwa years ds imposed~annoi be. termed lo beharsh considering . . the nature ofinjury so inflicted by the accuse~However, thefi~e imposed · appears to. be on higher side, hence reduced to Rs,15,0001-Sentencing. . . . On thefaieful day,"the complainant was gl'a~ing his ox in the. field and. his sister~in-law was cutting the. crops. On hearing her cry for help, ... ·the complainant rushed towards her and found ihat the accused/appellant p· was restraining his sister-in-law from cutting the crops and he was. carrying a gun. When the complainant intervened, he was threatened of dire consequences by the accused. Thereafter, he fired the gun injuring ·the complainant. · At thatjuncture, ·som~ persons arrived at the·spot. On seeing them, the accused fled away. The incident was reported at the police station by the injured complainant/victim. The police, after completing the .

investigation, submitted the charge-sheet in the Court. The trial Court found the accused guilty of committing the crime under Section·307 IPC and convicted and sentenced him to imprisonment for l[f<. The con. viction was affirmed by· the High Court in appeal but the sentence. was ·reduced to two years and BIPIN BIHARI v. STATEOFM. P. 413 fine was increased to Rs. J0,000/-. Hence the present appeaL · Appellant contended that the High Court was not-justified in-holding· · that the- tonviCtion hast;. be made in terms of Section 307 IPC; and that the fine as imposed is harsh and unreasonable•. Disposing of the appeal, the. Court HELD: I. I. It is sufficient to ju~tify a co~victi~n under Section 307 if there is present an intent coupled with some overt act in execution thereof. It is noi essential that bodily injury capable of causing death should have been inflicted.

Although the nature of injury actually caused may often give considerable assistance in coming to a finding as to the intention of the accused, such intention may also be deduced from other circumstances, and may even, in some cases, be ascertained without any reference at all to actual wounds. The Sections makes a distinction between the act of the accused and its result, if any. The Court has lo see whether the act, irrespective of its result, was done with the intention or knowledge and under circumstances mentioned in the Section. An attempt in order to be criminal need not be the penultimate act. (415-F-G( . Sarju Prasad v. Slale of Bihar, AIR (1965) SC 843; Stale of Maharashtra v. Balram Barna Patil andOrs. , (1983( 2 SCC 28; Girija Shankar v. State of U. f. , JT (2004) 2 SC 140; Vasanl Vithu Jadhav v. State of Maharashlra, (2004) AIR SCW 1523 and Bappa @Bapu v. State of Maharashtra & Anr. , (2004( 6 SCC 485, relied on•. 1. 2.

The imprisonment cannot be termed to be harsh considering the nature of the injury inflicted by the accused on the victim. However, the fine appears to be on higher side. The same is reduced to Rs. 15,000/-. · . ' . . (416-C-D( CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No, 986 of2006. ' . , From the final Judgment and Order dated 3. 12. 2004 of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur in Criminal Appeal No. 87912004. . -· Ram_esh Chandra Pandey for the Appellant. -Dr. N. M. Ghatate and C. D. Singh for the. Respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 414. ·SUPREME COURrREPORTS [2006] SUPP. 6 S. C. R. ARIJITPASAYAT, J. Leave granted. ' Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment rendered by a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh lligh Court. Jabalpur Bench confirming the conviction of the appellant in terms of Section_ 307 ofthe Indian Penal Code. 1860 (in short the "IPC') asdone by the trial Court.

llowever, the custodial • ·sentence of imprisonment for life imposed was reduced, quantum of fine was increased from Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 30,000/- and in default sentence was stipulated: . Thecustodfafsenteoce oftv•o years was ;,;,posed. It was held that in ·case the ' fine is not paid wiihin'four monlhs. "the accused shall undergo further rigorous imprisonmeni for fJ~r years. The fine amount o~ deposit was t~ be paid as compensation to foe victim. ' ' ' ' ' ' ' . ' ' ',/ . . •r . - '···· . - ... ! - - . , . ' The fa~tual background i~ a nutsheli is as under; ·· Complainant Mahabali on . 18. 11. 2002 at about 5. 00 p. m. was grazing. his ox in his field. llis sister-in-law Jamuni Bai was· cutting the crop. On hearing her cry· for help, the complainant rushed towards her and found that the appellant had entered into an altercation with her. Ile found that the appellant ~as carrying a gun· and v. ·as restraining his sister-in-la\V frorri cutting the crop.

Qn seeing the complainant, appellant brandished the gun and gave threat of d. ire consequences. Despite the threat, the complainant caught hold - --- . . - - / of the gun of appellant as . a result of which appellant hurled abuses and threatened to kill him. Thereafter the accused fired the gun and the bullet· struck the right calf of the complainant, as a consequence ofwhich the flesh of that region was ripped open. In spite of the aforesaid injury complainant continued to grapple with the appellant, as he wanted to load the gun again. But he failed because complainant was grappling with him. At that juncture, Lav'Kush, Ram Kripal and' Moti. lal arrived at. the 'spot. On seeing these person~. the'appellant fled aw~y arid left the'gun·at the spot. The incident was witnessed by sister-in-law ofcomplainant, who had testified that the appellant was making _threatenirig utterances. . The incident was reported at the police station by the injured complainant. Mahabali.

On the basis of FIR lodged by the complainant, the criminal la\v was set in motion. The investigating agency sent the ~omplainant for medical examination; recorded. the statements of witnesses; prepared the spot map; seized necessary articles and after completing the investigation submitted the charge-sheet in the concerned court fiom where it was received by the trial Court for trial. . . J; BIPINBIHARI ... STATEOFM. P; (P_~SAYAT,J. ) 415 The learned trial· Judge framed charge for commission of offence punishable under Section 307 IPC. The appellant denied the indictment and requested for trial. The prosecution examined 12 witnesses and placed Ex. Pl to P-19 documents on record. As noted above, the trial Court found the accused guilty, convicied and sentenced him. High Couri in appeal, as noted above, maintained the conviction; but modified the sentence.

-- ; In support of the appeal, learned counsel fo~ the accused· appellani submitted that the High Court was not justified in holding that the conviction has to be made in terms ofSection 307 IPC. The fine as imposed is harsh and unreaso~able. · . In response, learned counsel for the respondent-State submitted that the High Court's judgment does not. suffer from any infirmity to warrant interference. Section 307 IPC reads as follows: .. A/tempt to murder-Whoever does any act with such intention or : knowledge, and under such circumstances that, if he by that act caused l death, he would be guilty of murder, shall be punished with ·imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and if hurt is caused to any person by such ac~ the offender shall be liable either to imprisonment for life, or to such punishment as is hereinbefore mentioned....

It is sufficient to justify a conviction under Section 307 if there is present an intent coupled with some overt act in execution thereof. It is not essential that bodily injury capable ofcausing death should have been inflicted. Although the nature of injury actually caused may often give considerable assistance in coming to a finding as to the intention of the accused, such . intention may also be deduced from other circumstances, and may even, in some cases, be ascertained without any reference at all to ac. tual wounds. ·The . Sections makes a distinction betWeen the act of the accused and its result, if any. The Court has to see . whether the act, irrespective of its result, was done with the intention or knowledge and under circumstances mentioned in the · Section.. An attempt in order to be criminal need not bethe"'i)e~ultimate act. It is sufficient in law, if there is present an intent. coupled with some overt act in execution thereof. In Sarju Prasad v.

State ofBihar, AIR (1965) S. C 843 it was observed that the mere fact that the injury actually inflicted by the accused did not cut any vital organ of the victim, is not itself sufficient to take th~·act out ofthe purview of Section 307 IPC. The above po;ition was highlighted in State ofMaharashtra v. Bairam Bama Patil and Ors. , [1983) 2 SCC 28, Girija Shankar v. Stat~ ofU. P. , JT • . (2004) 2 SC 140 and Vasant Vithu JadhaV v. State ofM~harashtra, ·(2004) AIR SCW 1523; Bappa @ Bapu v. State of Maharashtra and Anr. • ·[2004] . . 6 sec 485. The conviction as done is in order. ' Coming to the custodial sentence imposed, the imprisonment cannot be termed to be in any way harsh considering the nature-·ofthe injury. inflicted by the accused on the victim. However, the fine appears to be on higher side• . The same is reduced to Rs. 15,000/- and shall be paid within a period of6 months. In case it is not paid, default custodial sentence would be one and a half years imprisonment.

If the payment is made, an amount of Rs. 10,000/ - shall be paid to the victim. · The appeal is disposed of accordingly. s. j<. s. Appeal disposed of. / ·. ;I :_. ;. -. _