Brief Facts
- The Appellant was convicted for murder of her husband under section 302 and 201 of the IPC. The Appellant and the deceased husband were having soured relationship and the deceased used to beat the Appellant and his daughter regularly. On the fateful day, daughter of the deceased demanded some money from the deceased for participating in the NCC camp, however, the deceased refused and this ensued the altercation between the Appellant and deceased, in furtherance of which the Appellant gave several lathi blows to the deceased.
- The Homicidal death was not in dispute and the issue was merely regarding the nature of culpable homicide.
Issue
- Whether in the peculiar circumstances of the present case, the conviction under section 302 of IPC would be required to be maintained or whether the case would fall under a lesser offence?
Held
- The Apex Court allowed the appeal and the conviction of the Appellant was modified from section 302 to Part I of section 304 of the IPC. The Appellant had already undergone 9 years of incarceration and her sentence was reduced to the period already undergone.
- The Court considered the often-quarrelling attitude of the deceased and also to testimony of the daughter who states that the deceased had earlier fractured the leg of her mother and the criminal case was already pending against him for the said offence. The deceased used to reside separately while the Appellant and her children were living in different house.
- It is to be noted that the weapon used in the crime is a stick which was lying in the house, and which, by no means, can be called a deadly weapon. Therefore, the possibility of the Appellant causing the death of the deceased while being deprived of the power of self-control, due to the provocation on account of the deceased not agreeing to pay Rs.500/- to PW-1, cannot be ruled out.
Relevant Para No.
- 12, 13, 14, 15