NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has converted conviction of three men from the offence of murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, after finding that it was not a pre-planned incident which took place due to a fight among children over mangoes 40 years ago.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also reduced the sentence of the appellants Man Bahadur Singh, Bharat Singh and Bhanu Pratap Singh from life imprisonment to that of seven years rigorous imprisonment with Rs 25,000 fine each to be paid to the victim's family.
The appellant Man Bahadur Singh and four others faced trial in a sessions court in Gonda for killing Vishwanath Singh. All the five were held guilty by the trial court for the offences under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced to life imprisonment.
During the pendency of appeal, two of them namely Ayodhya Singh and Lalji Singh passed away.
As per facts of the case, on April 19, 1984 at about 2:00 pm, a fight took place between children belonging to two families which resulted in the family of the accused attacking one Vishwanath Singh (deceased), who was father of Dabbu (one of the children involved in the fight).
The five accused named in the FIR were armed with 'Lathis'.
There were eye witnesses which proved the incident related to the attack.
"They were put to a lengthy cross-examination in the trial but nothing has come which could cast any doubt on their testimony. Under these circumstances, the fact that the death is homicidal is not in question and the fact that the deceased died due to the injuries caused to him by the lathi blows inflicted by the appellants, has also been clearly established by the evidence placed by the prosecution," the bench noted.
The appellants contended based on evidence of the eye witnesses as well as the nature of injuries, it is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder as it would come under Exception 4 of Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code,1860.
"As it has come from the deposition of all the eye witnesses, this is not a case of pre-planned murder. The incident started with a fight between children for “mangoes” which unfortunately flared up when the adults of the families also got involved which ultimately led to the deceased-Vishwanath Singh, (the father of one of the children), being killed," the bench said.
Considering the nature of injuries and weapon of the offence, the court felt inclined to accept the argument that it is indeed a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and it is not murder.
The court convicted the appellants for the less stringent offence with reduced sentence of seven years rigorous imprisonment with the fine.
It directed the District Magistrate, Gonda to ensure that the fine amount paid by the appellants was disbursed to the victim's family.
