Judgment :-

Leave granted.

We had issued notice only with regard to the nature of the offence on 14th September 2009.

We have heard the learned counsel for both parties.

The brief facts necessary for the disposal of this appeal are as under:

The appellant was an employee working in the kitchen of Palmgrove Hotel, Chennai. At about 6.15 a.m. on 8 th February 2005, the deceased Tr. Manickaraja Bala, the Managing Director of the hotel, came to the store room for carrying out a store check. As the deceased was returning to his office after checking the store, the appellant attacked him with a sickle which he had concealed on his person. When the deceased tried to escape, the appellant made a further attack on him and caused him several injuries on his body and on his hands as well. PW.1-Tr. Raghavendran, PW.3-P.S.R. Aziri, PW.4-Tr. Pravin Padival who were around the place came rushing to the rescue the deceased but the appellant nevertheless ran away from the spot. PW.2, PW.4 and several others then took the deceased to the Apollo hospital where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

A FIR was thereafter recorded for an offence punishable under Sections 307 etc. of the I.P.C. and on the death of the injured at about 3.30 a.m. on 9th February 2005 the case was altered to one under Section 302 etc. of the IPC. The Trial Court on a consideration of the evidence convicted the appellant for an offence punishable under Sections 302, 506 (II) and 341 of the IPC. This judgment was maintained by the High Court as well. It is in this situation that the matter is before us today. Mr. R.Shunmugham Sundram, the learned senior counsel for the appellant has pointed out that a bare perusal of the injuries, the post-mortem report and the evidence of the Doctor would show that the injuries caused by the appellant were not the cause of his death and he had in fact died of Myocardial Infarction leading to heart failure. He has further submitted that the fact that the deceased was already a heart patient and had undergone angioplasty was a fact not within the knowledge of the appellant and in this view of the matter a case under Section 302 IPC was not spelt out. Mr. R. Sunderavardan, the learned senior counsel for the respondent has however pointed out that even assuming that the immediate cause of death was the Myocardial Infarction and not the injuries caused to the deceased but in the light of the admitted fact that the appellant was an employee of the hotel of which the deceased was the Managing Director and that very severe injuries had indeed been caused with a sickle, required that the appellant would be punishable under Section 304 Part-I, IPC.

We have considered the arguments advanced by the learned counsel.

We reproduce the injuries found on the dead body of the deceased at the time of the post-mortem.

"Bandage seen over left forearm and right forearm below right below. Elastocreps bandage seen on top of left shoulder, Front of chest and back of chest.

An Elastocreps bandage on the right side of the neck.

1. Left shoulder - on removal of plaster:

A stapled sutured wound seen on the front of outer third of lest chest (crossing top of the outer as aspect of the left shoulder) extending up to outer aspect of back of left side chest. The total length is 16 cms.

A metallic wire is seen on the outer aspect of the left shoulder -4 cm long on removal of the sutures (staples) the acromio-calvicular joint was fixed with a tension bank wire. The surrounding soft tissues were found repaired 16 x 1.5 cm x bone deep.

2. Right hand - curved sutured would seen over the right palm extending from the volar aspect of the right wrist passing through the right thenar eminence extending to the base of right thumb on the dorsal aspect. The total length is 18 c.m.

- On removal of sutures the margins are regular -

On further dissection the underlying muscles of the right thumb, nerves, blood vessels were found repaired 18 x 3 cms. Muscle deep.

3. A sutured woun