R.S.BACHAWAT, J.

(1) THE Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi, convicted the appellant under sec. 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life. The Judge also convicted the appellant under sec. 324 of the Indian Penal Code, sentenced him to undergo six months rigorous imprisonment and directed that the two sentences would run concurrently. An appeal was filed in the High court of Punjab. The High court dismissed the appeal. The appellant has filed this appeal after obtaining special leave.

(2) THE appellant lives at Sat Nagar in Delhi. On 25/11/1961 at 1.45 p.m. he entered the house of his neighbour Somawati and stabbed her daughter Leela aged 1 1/2 years with a knife. He inflicted five stab wounds, one on the back trunk, one on the right gluteal region, two on the right thigh and one on the chest. The injury on the back of trunk, proved fatal. Leela died in the hospital at 4 p.m. The appellant then returned to his house and bolted the front door. A crowd collected near the front door and raised an alarm. After some time the appellant went out by the back door and stabbed another neighbour Parbati and then Raghubir who tried to intervene on her behalf. The injuries were simple incised wounds Rabhubir and others tried to apprehend him. He then ran back to his house, bolted the door and started throwing brickbats from the roof. He was later arrested by the police. All these facts are proved by unimpeachable evidence.

(3) ONE Dhani Ram was the father of Leela. Dhani Ram, his wife Somawati, his daughter Leela and his brother Baburam lived together in the same house. Indra is the appellants sister. The, appellant and his father suspected that Baburam was prone to making illicit approaches to Indra. On this account, the appellant had a long standing grudge against Baburam. This enmity is said to be the motive of the attack by the appellant on Leela, a member of the family of Baburam. The motive for the attack on Parbati is not clear. Raghubir was attacked because he tried to intervene.

(4) THE defence plea was of insanity. The Additional Sessions Judge and the High court concurrently rejected this defence.

(5) WE may briefly notice the evidence bearing on the plea of insanity. Since 1958 the appellant was an employee in the Stores Branch of the Northern Railway Headquarters in Baroda House, New Delhi. In 1958 and 1959 he had altercations with other clerks in the office. On 20/05/1959 his superior officer observed that he was prone to, lose temper in no time. In his moments of excitement he became dangerous and used to hit his colleagues with anything that he could lay his hands on. But at the time of his greatest excitement he could distinguish between right and wrong. After May 1959 he worked at his desk as a normal man. In March 1960 he again quarrelled with another clerk. He was suspended and sent for medical examination. At this stage he was suffering from mental illness. On 12/10/1960 he was examined by a psychiatrist who found that he exhibited symptoms of acute schizophrenia and showed disorder of thought, emotion and perception of external realities. The psychiatrist said that he was harbouring certain delusions. The nature of the delusions is not stated. It is not proved that the appellant suffered from any particular delusion or hallucination. The appellant was put on a drug named largactil and was given convulsive electrotherapy treatment. On 12/01/1961 he was cured of his illness and was advised to join his duties. On resuming his duties the appellant worked in the office in the normal manner.

(6) THERE is some evidence that on the morning of 25/11/1961 and the preceding night, the appellant complained that he was unwell and took medicine. But on the morning of November 25, he went to his office as usual. He was late in attendance and was marked absent. He applied in writing for one days casual leave stating that he had an urgent piece of work at