Stabbed Friend's Neck In Heat Of Moment: Gauhati High Court Alters Murder Conviction To Culpable Homicide U/S 304 IPC

The Gauhati High Court recently altered the murder conviction of a man who stabbed his friend in the neck, to that of culpable homicide not amounting to murder on the ground that there was no evidence to show that the offence was committed with an intention or motive to kill the deceased.

While setting aside the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 (Murder) IPC, the division bench of Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Malasri Nandi observed:

“The evidence on record shows that the appellant and the deceased were friends for a very long time and they used to take alcohol together. On the day of the incident they had gone to the house of PW-3, where they drank liquor. There is nothing in the evidence to show that there was any enmity between the appellant and the deceased. As such, there is nothing to show that there was any reason for the appellant to have premeditated the murder of the deceased.”

It was the case of the prosecution that the appellant-accused called the deceased to the house of Sri Letu Lohar (PW-3) where liquor was provided to the deceased and appellant killed the deceased by stabbing him on his neck with a knife.

A FIR was registered under Section 302 of IPC against the appellant and the trial court convicted the appellant under section 302 of IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs. 5,000/- vide judgement and order dated November 22, 2019.

The appellant challenged the impugned judgement of the trial court in appeal before the High Court.

The appellant contended that the act was not done intentionally and neither was it done with premeditation. It was further argued that due to a quarrel that had ensued between the appellant and the deceased, during the heat of the moment, appellant stabbed the deceased on his neck which led to his death.

The court noted that the evidence of PW-3 who sat with the appellant and the deceased, while they were drinking liquor, states that an altercation had taken place between the accused and the deceased, in the course of which the appellant took the knife, which was used for cutting the mangos and stabbed the neck of the deceased.

On considering the evidence on record and statements of the witnesses and the accused, the court observed that although the appellant had caused the death of the deceased by stabbing him on his neck, there was no premeditation on the part of the appellant in taking the life of the deceased.

The court held:

“On considering the fact that there was nothing prior to the said altercation to show that there was any reason for the appellant to have stabbed the deceased, we are of the view that due to the quarrel that had ensued and in the heat of passion and under the influence of alcohol, the appellant stabbed the deceased. As such, we are of the view that the action of the appellant falls under Exception 4 of Section 300 (Murder) of IPC.”

The court further held that the appellant had the knowledge of his act that the same was likely to cause death or such bodily injury, as is likely to cause the death of the deceased. Therefore, the court held the appellant guilty under Part-II of Section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC.

Accordingly, the court set aside the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 of IPC and convicted and sentenced him under Part-II of Section 304 of IPC to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of 7 years with a fine of Rs. 5000/-.

Case Title: Sri Manjit Sarkar @ Babu Sarkar v. The State of Assam & Anr.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 37

Coram: Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Malasri Nandi

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