THANKACHAN AND ANR. v. STATE OF KERALA

Citation: [2007] 11 S.C.R. 1128

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: ARIJIT PASAYAT, P. SATHASIVAM

Case summary

THANKACHAN AND ANR. v. STATE OF KERALA.pdf

Judgment text

~· \ THANKACHAN AND ANR. v. STATE OF KERALA NOVEMBER 13, 2007 t· [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND P. SATHASIVAM, JJ. ] Penal Code, 1860: s. 300 exception 4, s. 302, ands. 304 Part (1)-Applicability of s. 300 exception·4-Held: Is applicable when act is covered without premeditation, in a sudden fight-Besides, offender should not have taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel/unusual manner andfight must have been with the person killed-Onfacts, suddenfight between the accused and deceased, mutual provocation and blows on each side-On exhortation by one accused, the other stabbing the deceased with knife resulting in his death-Courts below convicting under s. 302 rlw s. 34 and imposing life imprisonment-In the facts ofthe case, conviction altered. from s. 302 to s. 304 Part (1)-Custodial sentenr;e altered to ten years. s. 300 exception 1and4-Distinction between-Explained. Words andphrases: 'Fight', 'suddenfight' and 'undue advantage '-Meaning of-In the context ofException 4 to Section 300 JPC.

-1 According to the prosecution case, on the fateful day, accused A 1-A 4 came to the house ofdeceased. A2 caught hold ofdeceased and dragged him. A2 hit the deceased on his head with the bottle. The deceased also hit A2 on the head with the bottle. On exhortation by Al, A2 and A4 inflicted injuries to deceased on his head with chopper and A3 stabbed deceased with knife. The deceased became ~ unconscious and later succumbed to his injuries. Trial court convicted the accused under section 302 read with s. 34 IPC and imposed life 1128 r / THANKACHANv. STATE 1129 imprisonment. High Court allowed the appeals filed by Al and A4, however dismissed the appeals filed by appellants-Al and A3. Hence the present appeal. Partly allowing the appeal, the Court HELD: 1. 1.

The Exception 4 to section 300 IPC can be invoked ifdeath is caused (a) without premeditation; (b) in a sudden fight in the heat ofpassion upon a sudden quarrel; (c) withoutthe offender having taken undue advantage oracted in a cruel or unusual manner; and (d) the fight must have been with the person killed. To bring case within Exception 4 all the ingredients mentioned in it must be found. (Para 10] [1133-G, H; 1134-A] 1. 2. The Fourth Exception to section 300 IPC covers acts done in a sudden fight. The said Exception deals with a case ofprosecution not covered by the First Exception, after which its place would have been more appropriate. The Exception is founded upon the same principle, for in both there is absence ofpremeditation. But, while in the case ofException 1 there is total deprivation ofself-control, in case ofException 4, there is only that heat ofpassion which clouds men's sober reason and urges them to deeds which they would not otherwise do.

There is provocation in Exception 4 as in Exception E ' 1; but the injury done is not the direct consequence of that provocation. In fact Exception 4 deals with cases in which notwithstanding that a blow may have been struck, or some provocation given in the origin ofthe dispute or in whatever way the }quarrel may have originated, yet the subsequent conduct of both parties puts them in respect ofguilt upon equal footing. A "sudden fight" implies mutual provocation and blows on each side. The homicide committed is then clearly not traceable to unilateral provocation, nor in such cases could the whole blame be placed on one side. For if ifwere so, the Exception more appropriately ' applicable would be Exception 1. There is no previous deliberation or determination to fight. A fight suddenly takes place, for which both parties are more or less to be blamed.

It may be that one of them starts it, but ifthe other had not aggravated it by his own conduct it would not have taken the serious turn it did. There is then mutual provocation and aggravation, and it is difficult to apportion the share ofblame which attaches to each fighter. [Para 10) 1. 3. Word "fight" occurring in Exception 4 to section 300 IPC is not defined in IPC. It takes two to make a fight. Heat of passion -+ require$. that there must be no time for the passions to cool down and in dus case, the parties have worked themselves into a fury on account ofthe verbal altercation in the beginning. A fight is a combat between two or more persons whether with orwithout weapons. It is not possible to enunciate any general rule as to whatshall be deemed to be a sudden quarrel. It is a question offact and whether a quarrel is sudden or not must necessarily depend upon the proved facts of each case.

For the application ofException 4, it is not sufficient to show that there was a sudden quarrel and that there was no premeditation. It must further be shown that the offender has not &ken undue advantage or acted in cruel or unusual manner. The expression "undue advantage" as used in the provision means "unfair advantage". [Para 10) (1134-A, B, CJ Sandhya Jadhav v. State ofMaharashtra, (2006) 4 SCC 653, relied on. 1. 4. Considering the facts, the appropriate conviction would be under section 304 Part I and not section 302 IPC. The conviction is accordingly altered. Also custodial sentence is altered to ten years. (Para 12] (1134-D) --( CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION :Criminal Appeal No. 1535 of 2007. From the final Judgment and Order dated 16. 03. 2005 ofthe High Court ofKerala at Emakulam in Crl. A. No. 449 of2003. C. N. Sree Kumar, P. R. Nayak and Harshad V. Hameed for the 1- Appellants. G. Prakash for the Respondent. The Judgment ofthe Court was delivered by DR.

ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. Challenge in this appeal is to the order passed by aDivision Bench 1 ofthe Kerala High Court, dismissing the appeal filed by the appellants who were described as A2 and A3 indicating their position before the trial court, while allowing the appeals filed by the two other accused B t persons (Al and A4). 3. The conviction ofthe appellants for offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 ofthe Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC') and sentence of imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs. 20,000/-with default stipulation was upheld. 4. The prosecution version in a nutshell is as follows: On 7. 2. 1997 at or about 6. 45 p. m. at Ayamkudy Kara in Muttuchira Village ofVaikom Taluk in Kotayam District, the 4th accused came driving his goods autorickshaw (pick-u-auto) along with Al to A3 in the said goods carrier and pulled up in front ofMarangattil House ofSathyadevan · @ Sahadevan@ Sahadi (hereinafter referred to as the 'deceased').

The deceased was the driver ofa mini lorry. A2 straight away went over to the deceased who was sitting along with PW2 in the varanda ofhis house. A2 caught hold ofthe deceased by the tuck of his dhoti and dragged 1 him on to the Ezhumanthuruthi Kapoola road in front. The deceased picked up a soda bottle from the parapet ofhis house. Seeing this A2 went and picked a soda bottle from the adjacent grocery shop run by Rajamma (PW 7), the wife of the deceased and came on to the road. From the southern mud road (road margin) in front of the aforesaid 1 grocery shop, A2 struck the deceased on the head with the soda bottle. Then the deceased also hit A2 on the head with the soda bottle in his hand and inflicted an injury. Seeing this A2 sprinkled chilly powder on the eyes of the deceased. The chilly powder got into the eyes of the deceased who stood there with both hands held against his face and i rubbing his eyes. Al then exhorted his companions to cut Sahadevan to death.

Thereupon A2 drew a chopper from inside his shirt and cut the deceased on his head inflicting injuries. A3 stabbed the deceased on his right arm with a knife inflicting injury. A4 then cut the deceased on the back ofhis head with a chopper. The deceased fell on the road and was taken by PWs. l, 2 and 8 to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. The deceased who had become unconscious on account ofthe injuries sustained by him succumbed to the same at about 2. 10 p. m. on 8. 2. 1997. Since the aforesaid acts were done by Al to A4 in prosecution oftheir common intention to do so, the accused persons were charged for having committed the offence ofmurder punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC. +- On the accused pleading not guilty to the charge framed against them by the court below for the aforementioned offence, the prosecution was permitted to adduce evidence in support of its case.

The prosecution examined 16 witnesses as PWs 1 to 16 and got marked -17 documents as Exts. Pl to Pl 7 and 8 material objects as Mos. 1 to 8. After the closure ofthe prosecution's evidence the accused were questioned under Section 313(1) ofthe Code ofCriminal Procedure, 1973 (in short 'Cr. P. C. ') with regard to the incriminating circumstances appearing against them in the evidence for the prosecution. They denied those circumstances and maintained their innocence. They admitted that Exts. Pl6 and Pl 7 are the wound certificates pertaining to A2 and A3 respectively. When called upon to enter on their defence, the accused examined the Secretary ofthe Ayamkudy Branch of KPMS as DWI. 5. Placing reliance on the evidence of PWs 2, 3, 7 and 8 the trial Court recorded conviction. As noted above, appeal was preferred before the High Court by all the four accused persons, and the appeal filed by the present appellants was dismissed while that of co-accused was allowed. 6.

In support of the appeal learned counsel for the appellant submitted even ifprosecution version accepted in toto offence under Section 302 IPC is not made out. As a matter offact it is the prosecution version that the deceased first assaulted appellant no. I with a broken bottle and caused several injuries. 7. Learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand submitted that the trial Court and the High Court have rightly found the accused j pe·rsons guilty ofoffence punishable under Section 302 IPC. 8. In essence the stand oflearned counsel for the appellant is that Exception IV to Section 300 IPC would apply to the facts ofthe case. 9. For bringing in operation ofException 4 to Section 300 IPC, it has to be established that the act was committed without premeditation, in a sudden fight in the heat ofpassion upon a sudden quarrel without the offender having taken undue advantage and not having acted in a cruel or unusual manner. 10.

The Fourth Exception to Section 300 IPC covers acts done in a sudden fight. The said Exception deals with a case ofprosecution not covered by the First Exception, after which its place would have been more appropriate. The Exception is founded upon the same principle, for · in both there is absence of premeditation. But, while in the case of Exception 1there is total deprivation ofself-control, in case ofException 4, there is only thatheat ofpassion which clouds men's sober reason and urges them to deeds which they would not otherwise do. There is provocation in Exception 4 as in Exception 1; but the injury done is not the direct consequence ofthat provocation. In fact Exception 4 deals with cases in which notwithstanding that a blow may have been struck, or u. e provocation given in the origin of the dispute or in whatever w•. _ the quruTel may have originated, yet the subsequent conduct ofboth parties puts them in respect ofguilt upon equal footing.

A "sudden fight" imnlies mutual provocation and blows on each side. The homicide committed is then clearly not traceable to unilateral provocation, nor in such cases could the whole blame be placed on one side. For ifit were so, the Exception more appropriately applicable would be Exception 1. There is no previous deliberation or determination to fight. A fight suddenly takes place, for which both parties are more or less to be blamed. It may be that one of them starts it, but ifthe other had not aggravated it by his own conduct it would not have taken the serious tum it did. There is then mutual G provocation and aggravation, and it is difficult to apportion the share of blame which attaches to each fighter. The help ofException 4 can be invoked ifdeath is caused (a) without premeditation; (b) in a sudden fight; (c) without the offender having taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual manner; and (d) the fight must have been with the person killed.

To bring a case within Exception 4 all the ingredients mentioned in it must be found. It is to be noted that tlie "fight" occurring in Exception 4 tti·, , Section 300 IPC is not defined in IPC. It takes two to make a fight. Heat of passion requires that there must be no time for the passions to cool down and in this case, the parties have worked themselves into a fury on account ofthe verbal altercation in the beginning. A fight is a combat between two or more persons whether with or without weapons. It is not possible to enunciate any general rule as to what shall be deemed to be a sudden quarrel. It is a question of fact and whether a quarrel is sudden or not must necessarily depend upon the proved facts ofeach case. For the application ofException 4, it is not sufficient to show that there was a sudden quarrel and that there was no premeditation. It must further be shown that the offender has not taken undue advantage or acted in cruel or unusual manner.

The expression "undue advantage" as used in the provision means "unfair advantag~". 11. The above position is highlighted in Sandhya Jadhav v. State ofMaharashtra, [2006] 4 SCC 653. 12. Considering the background facts, appropriate conviction would be under Section 304 Part I IPC and not Section 302 IPC. The conviction is accordingly altered. Custodial sentence often years would suffice. Fine amount is reduced to Rs. 5,000/-. In case fine is not paid, default ~ntence would be two years. 13. Appeal is allowed to the aforesaid extent. N. J. Appeal Partly allowed.