'Temper Runs High In People Of Scheduled Area': Orissa High Court Alters Murder Conviction Of Man From SC Community To Culpable Homicide

The Orissa High Court, on Tuesday, altered the conviction of a man belonging to scheduled caste community from murder to one of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, inter alia, observing that temper runs high in people belonging to scheduled areas and they at times behave in 'unexpected manners'.

While granting partial relief to the appellant, the Division Bench of Justice Debabrata Dash and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy held –

“…the parties are members of Scheduled Caste and hail from rural pocket situated within the Scheduled Area of the State where ordinarily their temper run high and for silly reasons, they many a times behave differently, at times in a quite an unexpected manner”

Brief Background

There was a quarrel between the appellant and the deceased, pursuant to which the former dealt a blow by means of a piece of hard wood on the latter's head. The deceased, after receiving the blow, became serious and while being shifted to Hospital for treatment, he died.

An FIR was lodged by the wife of the deceased. Investigation was carried out and upon its completion, the charge-sheet was submitted against the appellant. After going through the evidence on record, the trial Court found the appellant guilty for commission of murder and convicted him under Section 302 of the IPC.

Rival Contentions

The counsel appearing for the appellant did not dispute the homicidal nature of death of the deceased. However, she argued that considering the role played by the appellant in the crime, the Court below should have convicted him under Section 304 Part-I and not under Section 302, IPC.

It was her further contention that the appellant hails from a rural background and people from such areas are prone to high temper. Thus, the trial Court ought to have considered this factor while recording conviction.

On the other hand, the State counsel supported the trial Court decision and submitted that as the assault was done by a hard piece of wood, it is well justified that the appellant was convicted for the highest degree of homicide, i.e. murder.

Court's Observations

The Court referred to the post-mortem report which found two lacerated injuries. However, it noted that the doctor nowhere opined that such injuries cannot be caused by a single blow. Further, it was also taken into consideration that the appellant did not carry the piece of wood to the place of occurrence, which reflects that the assault was not a pre-planned one.

“There was dispute between the accused and the deceased for certain landed property when witnesses (P.Ws.11 & 12) are differing on the point as to how many blows the accused dealt upon the deceased and one of them has stated as if it was a solitary blow, the benefit must go to the accused in getting his role confined to have dealt one blow on the deceased,” it observed.

Apart from the aforesaid, the Court took into account the societal background of the appellant and the deceased. It noted that both of them belonged to scheduled areas and it is common for people from rural pockets of such areas to have high temper even for 'silly reasons'.

It also observed that they often behave differently and at times, in quite unusual manners. Therefore, it concluded that the offence could be categorized as one punishable under Section 304-I of the IPC. Thus, the Bench altered the conviction of the appellant to one under Section 304-I for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time that the Orissa High Court has taken a lenient view of murder convicts basing upon, inter alia, the reason that as they hail from scheduled/rural areas, they are susceptible to high temper and behave differently.

In October last year, another Division headed by Justice Debabrata Dash had taken similar view while altering murder conviction of a rural labourer to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. It had observed –

“The parties hail from the rural background and earned their livelihood by working as labourers. The judicial notice of the fact can be taken that temper run high amongst such persons who were working as labourer hailing from villages and for the silly reasons, they often behave and respond unexpectedly and aggressively.”

Similarly, in September 2023, another Division Bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra had granted partial relief to a tribal man, who was convicted for murder by the trial Court. Altering his conviction to one for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the Bench had held –

“…it appears that on the fateful day, there was a sudden quarrel between the appellant and the deceased and when the deceased challenged the appellant as to why he was quarrelling with him, the appellant shot an arrow at the deceased. It is not unusual for a tribal man to lose his temper even on trivial issues.”

Case Title: Krushna Dom @ Domb v. State of Odisha

Case No: JCRLA No. 33 of 2013

Date of Judgment: January 16, 2024

Counsel for the Appellant: Ms. Sanjukta Bala Das, Advocate

Counsel for the State: Mr. S.K. Nayak, Addl. Govt. Advocate

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ori) 8

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