IMPORTANT POINT
Culpability u/s 324 or 326 depends upon nature of injuries: minor or grievous.

JUDGMENT

RANJAN GOGOI, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant had been convicted under Section 307 IPC by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi in Sessions Case No.28/2000 and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years alongwith fine. In appeal, the High Court of Delhi had altered the conviction of the appellant to one under Section 326 IPC with consequential modification of the sentence to rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years. The High Court, further directed the appellant to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- as compensation to the victim, Sunder Singh, under the provisions of Section 357 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Aggrieved by the aforesaid conviction and the sentence imposed, the appellant has filed the present appeal.

3. We have heard Mr. Mohd. Hanif Rashid, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Mohan Jain, learned Addl. Solicitor General for the State.

4. The culpability of the appellant for the criminal acts attributed to him need not be gone into in the present appeal inasmuch as the arguments on behalf of the appellant had centred around the quantum of sentence to be imposed and, in fact, the notice issued by this Court on 06.12.2013 was on the limited point of sentence.

5. Notwithstanding the limited notice issued i.e. on the question of sentence which would have required the Court to proceed on the basis that the conviction of the appellant under Section 326 IPC need not be disturbed, we have considered the arguments made on behalf of the appellant on the question as to whether the facts of the case required alteration of the conviction of the appellant to one under Section 324 IPC as the issue of a lesser sentence was sought to be canvassed on that basis also.

6. Whether the culpability of the accused would fall under Section 324 or 326 of the IPC would depend on as to whether the injuries suffered by the victim amount to ‘simple hurt’ or ‘grievous hurt’ as defined by the relevant provision of the Penal Code. The evidence of PW-2, Dr. Naresh Chander Gaur, the Orthopaedic Surgeon who examined the victim on the day of the incident indicates that the victim had suffered two wounds at the back of his left forearm 9 x 5 cm. over the middle 1/3rd and 6 x 4 cm. distal 1/3rd left forearm with deep extensive damage to most of muscles and the back of left forearm. Apart from the above, there was another wound 4 x 1 cm. on the palm of the right hand. According to PW-2 the victim had undergone surgery on 19.5.1999 in the course of which both wounds on left forearm were explored and all the muscles were found to be damaged which were repaired. Furthermore, according to PW-2 the digital nerve of the right index finger was cut which was also repaired. PW-2 has specifically stated that the above injuries are grievous in nature and were caused by a sharp edged weapon (knife) which fact is borne out from the testimony of the victim himself, examined as PW-3, duly corroborated by the eyewitnesses PW-4 Babli and PW-5 Umesh. Over and above, there is the evidence of PW-1, Dr. Sudha Kanojia, who had first examined the victim Sunder Singh, to the effect that the injuries sustained by the victim were not simple injuries. In view of the above evidence on record it is difficult to hold that the injuries sustained by the victim due to the assault committed by the accused does not fall under 8th clause of Section 320 IPC, which, inter alia, defines ‘grievous hurt’ as “any hurt which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be during the space of twenty days in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow his ordinary pursuits”. The conviction of the appellant under Section 326 IPC, therefore, will not require any correction.

7. The punishment contemplated under Section 326 IPC is imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, along with fine. In a recent pronouncement of this Court in Gopal Singh vs. State of Uttarakhand[(2013) 7 SCC 545] it has been