CHHERTURAM @ CHAINU Versus STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

CHHERTURAM @ CHAINU Versus STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

Landmark Cases of India / सुप्रीम कोर्ट के ऐतिहासिक फैसले

REPORTABLE

 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1317 OF 2022

CHHERTURAM @ CHAINU …Appellant

Versus

STATE OF CHHATTISGARH …Respondent

J U D G M E N T

SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. We are faced with a case of patricide albeit both the father and the

son were drinking together.

2. In the intervening night of 26th and 27th July, 2010, between 10.00

pm and 12.30 am, the effect of alcohol may have resulted in a quarrel

inter se the father and the son. The informer, Chamruram (PW-8), who is

a neighbour, on reaching their house found the appellant assaulting his

father, Goienda, the deceased, with Nagar Wood. The deceased fell to

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the ground and died. In the presence of the appellant’s brother, PW-4,

the appellant admitted that he killed his father. The FIR was lodged by

PW-8 in the Police Station Darima next morning and the appellant was

arrested on 28.07.2010. On his disclosure statement regarding a lungi as

well as Nagar Wood, the same were found at the courtyard of his house

and then sent to Forensic Science Laboratory, Raipur, for chemical

examination.

3. It is necessary to set out the result of the autopsy, which opined

that the injuries on the dead body were caused by some hard and blunt

object between half to two hours of death. These injuries were stated to

be fatal to life and sufficient to cause death to the deceased. There were

eleven injuries found, as under:

“1. On the right side of the head of the deceased a torn wound was

present from front to back in the parietal region to a depth of

2.5x1/4xinch to the depth of the bone;

2. On the front of the head 2x1 / 4 inch size dark blue torn wound

was there, on which swelling was present all around;

3. On the back left side of the head 4 inches rounded one contusion

was present, inside which blood clot was present;

4. 3x2 inch size one contusion was present near left ear;

5. On the front and left side of the neck 6x4 inch part swelling and

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blue colored contusions were present;

6. On the left cheek in the 4x4 inch part, there were contusions

with swelling;

7. The sternum bone on the chest was broken and there was a

blood clot beneath it and there was a blue colour contusion,

present on the chest;

8. On the right chest, in 4x4 inch area, contusion was present due

to which the second, third, fourth rib were broken and blood had

accumulated beneath the broken rib;

9. On the left chest there was a 6x2 inch size contusion present and

beneath it the first, second, third and fourth ribs were broken and

blood clot had accumulated beneath the broken ribs;

10. On the back and left abdominal side, 3 contusions were

present, which were of 3X2, 5X2 inches and 7X2 inches in size;

and

11. The left eye was red in color and swelling was present in it.”

On an internal examination of the dead body, alcohol was found

present inside the deceased’s stomach. The cause of death was stated to

be haemorrhage shock caused by the fatal injuries to the vital organs and

death was homicidal in nature.

4. On completion of investigation, a charge sheet was filed before the

Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Ambikapur, who committed the case to the

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court of Sessions. Charges were framed under Section 302 of the Indian

Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as ‘the IPC’) on 08.03.2011 and the

prosecution examined ten witnesses.

5. The appellant pleaded innocence in his statement under Section

313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as ‘the

CrPC’) but admitted that he and the deceased were residing together in

the same house.

6. The learned Additional Sessions Judge vide the judgment dated

15.10.2012 convicted the appellant finding him guilty of causing a

homicidal death amounting to murder under Sections 302 of the IPC and

sentenced to undergo RI for life with a fine of Rs.1,000/- and in default

to undergo additional RI for four months. It was opined that the case of

the prosecution was based on direct evidence, judicial confession, seizure

based on appellant’s statement and on circumstantial evidence that the

body of the deceased was found in the appellant’s house.

7. On appeal being preferred before the High Court, the same was

dismissed by the impugned judgment dated 08.04.2015. The evidence

was analysed threadbare including the statement of neighbours, who

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were prosecution witnesses stating that the appellant and the deceased

were residing in the same house and on being informed about the death

of the deceased, they went to the house and saw the dead body of the

deceased.

8. On the Special Leave Petition being preferred, notice was issued

on 18.07.2022. The only aspect, on which notice was issued on

18.07.2022, was on the plea of the learned counsel for the appellant that

the present case would fall under Section 304 Part-I of the IPC and not

Section 302 of the IPC. The appellant had already undergone actual

sentence of twelve years by then.

9. Arguments have been heard on the aforesaid aspect after grant of

leave on 22.08.2022.

Submissions on behalf of the Appellant:

10. Learned counsel for the appellant contended that both the appellant

and the deceased were consuming liquor and started fighting under the

influence of liquor. In this altercation, the appellant picked up a Nagar

Wood and inflicted few injuries to his father, which resultantly caused

death. There was no motivation and intention, which means that the

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essential ingredients of Section 300 of IPC were absent and the

conviction under Section 302 of IPC was erroneous. Moreover, alcohol

was also found in the stomach of the deceased.

11. It may be noticed that the learned counsel for the appellant sought

to contend on the aspect of whether the conviction could be based on the

last seen theory. However, that is not the aspect on which notice was

issued.

Submissions on behalf of the Respondent:

12. Learned counsel for the respondent sought to initially contend that

in case of the homicide committed within the privacy of a house, there is

burden on the inmates to offer a cogent explanation for the crime

committed. The testimonies of witnesses established the crime. Once

again, we have to say that that is not an aspect, which is required to be

examined by us in view of the limited notice issued.

13. On the issue of the nature of offence, learned counsel for the State

relied upon the judgment in Surain Singh v. State of Punjab1

 to make

out a case under Exception 4 of Section 300 of the IPC. Section 300

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(2017) 5 SCC 796

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reads as under:

“300. Murder.—Except in the cases hereinafter excepted,

culpable homicide is murder, if the act by which the death is

caused is done with the intention of causing death, or—

Secondly —If it is done with the intention of causing such

bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the

death of the person to whom the harm is caused, or—

Thirdly —If it is done with the intention of causing bodily

injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be

inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause

death, or—

Fourthly —If the person committing the act knows that it is so

imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause

death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and

commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of

causing death or such injury as aforesaid.

xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx

Exception 4.—Culpable homicide is not murder if it is

committed without premeditation in a sudden fight in the heat

of passion upon a sudden quarrel and without the offender

having taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual

manner.

Explanation.—It is immaterial in such cases which party offers

the provocation or commits the first assault.”

14. In order to make out a case under Exception 4 aforesaid, it was

pleaded that there were two essential ingredients: (i) the accused did not

act with premeditation, and (ii) the accused did not act in a cruel or brutal

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manner taking advantage of the situation. Hence the nature of injuries is

an important factor in determining whether the death was caused due to a

sudden fight.

15. Learned counsel referred to the judgment in Manokaran v. State

of T.N.2

, wherein this Court refused to entertain the case within

Exception 4 of Section 300 of the IPC due to the nature of injuries, which

showed cruelty and brutality meted out to injure a person on the root of

the neck.

16. In applying the said principles to the facts of the present case, it is

submitted that there were eleven injuries on the vital areas such as skull,

chest and abdomen leading to breaking of sternum as well as second,

third and fourth rib to demonstrate that the appellant acted with brutality.

Hence, the present case cannot fall under the Fourth Exception to Section

300 of IPC.

17. Learned counsel for the respondent also made a reference to

Section 86 of the IPC, which reads as under:

“86. Offence requiring a particular intent or knowledge

committed by one who is intoxicated.—In cases where an act

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(2010) 15 SCC 562

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done is not an offence unless done with a particular knowledge

or intent, a person who does the act in a state of intoxication

shall be liable to be dealt with as if he had the same knowledge

as he would have had if he had not been intoxicated, unless the

thing which intoxicated him was administered to him without

his knowledge or against his will.”

18. It was, thus, the submission made by the respondent that merely

because the appellant and the deceased had consumed liquor together,

full knowledge is liable to be attributed to the appellant and the defence

of being under the influence of liquor is not something which was

available to him.

19. It was further contended that the benefit of Section 300 Fourthly

extends to act committed by an offender with the knowledge that the

result of such acts will be death approximates a practical certainty/a very

high degree of probability. The nature of injuries in the present case

indicates that death was a practical certainty. Therefore, the conviction

of the appellant was liable to be sustained under Section 302 of the IPC.3

Conclusion:

20. We have examined within the limited contours of the aforesaid

facts and the principles of law enunciated. There is no doubt that the

3 A.P. v. Rayavarapu Punnayya (1976) 4 SCC 382

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parties were closely related, being the father and the son. There was no

prior dispute. Liquor got the better of the appellant. That, however, is no

defence in view of Section 86 of the IPC.

21. We have to thus turn to the fact that there was no prior intent but in

the sudden fight, injuries were inflicted. It is necessary to look to the

injuries in this behalf which had been enumerated hereinabove. There

were eleven injuries! It is not only the number of injuries but where and

in what manner they were inflicted, even if it is by a piece of Nagar

Wood and not by a dangerous weapon. There were multiple injuries on

the head – on the right side, on the front side, on the back left side, near

the left ear, on the front and left side of the neck and on the left cheek.

The sternum bone on the chest was broken and there was a blood clot

beneath it. On the right chest, 4X4 inch area contusion was present due to

which the second, third, fourth rib were broken and blood had

accumulated beneath the broken rib. Similarly on the left chest, there was

a 6X2 inches size contusion. The contusions were also present on the

back and left abdominal side. It is clearly a case of mercilessly beating on

all the vital parts of the body and reigning blows, albeit with a wood

piece, on head and on different parts of the head again and again. With

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these kinds of blows, there would be no possibility of the deceased

surviving. Maybe it was under the influence of liquor, but the nature of

blows was such that the endeavour was to end the life of the deceased,

the father. It was certainly an act in a cruel and brutal manner taking

advantage of the situation even if there was no pre-meditation. The

factual scenario would, thus, fall within the ratio of Manokaran4

 case.

22. Sympathy for the son in such a scenario would be misplaced. The

victim was the father. The appellant must take the consequences of such

merciless attack on his father. There is no cause made out for application

of Exception 4 of Section 300.

23. The only redeeming feature is that the appellant has already

undergone 12 years of sentence and on completion of the sentence, as per

remission policy, he would be liable to be considered for release. The

only aspect which we are inclined to consider is to issue a direction to the

State to consider the case of the appellant for remission, the moment he

completes the mandatory sentence as per the policy for such

consideration.

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(supra)

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24. The appeal is accordingly disposed of in the aforesaid terms

leaving the parties to bear their own costs.

………………………J.

[Sanjay Kishan Kaul]

 ............... ....……………………J.

[Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha]

New Delhi.

September 13, 2022.

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