IMPORTANT POINT
The punishment should be proportionate to the crime and courts should not show undue leniency.

JUDGMENT :

DINESH MAHESHWARI., J.

1. Leave granted.

2. In this appeal, the appellant-State of Madhya Pradesh has called in question the judgment and order dated 27.11.2012 in Criminal Appeal No. 260 of 1998 whereby, the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, even while upholding the conviction of accused (respondent herein) for the offence punishable under Section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code ('IPC'), has modified the sentence of 3 years' rigours imprisonment as awarded by the Trial Court to that of the period already undergone i.e., 3 months and 21 days.

3. The only question calling for determination in this appeal is: As to whether, in the given set of facts and circumstances, the High Court was justified in interfering with the punishment awarded by the Trial Court by reducing the same to the period of imprisonment already undergone?

4. The background aspects of the case, so far relevant for the question at hand could be noticed as follows: The prosecution case had been that on 13.05.1996, at about 4:30 p.m., the respondent assaulted his father Tulsiram with a blunt object causing fracture on the parietal region of skull; and the same night, victim succumbed to the injury at Betul Hospital. On the basis of the information received from the hospital that the deceased Tulsiram was brought to the hospital by the respondent Suresh in unconscious condition, Marg Information No. 0/30/96 was registered under section 174 Cr.P.C. However, when it was noticed from the statements of PW-3 Sawalbai, PW-6 Basanti Bai and PW-10 Sarpach Sukhlal that the respondent was seen hitting his father, he was arrested on 20.05.1996 and FIR in Crime No. 120/1996 (Ex. P-19) came to be registered at police station, Amla. After due investigation, the respondent was charge-sheeted for the offences under Sections 201 and 302 IPC.

5. In trial, the prosecution, inter alia, relied on the testimony of PW-3 Smt. Sawalbai who stated that while working in a field near the place of incident, she had seen the respondent assaulting his father with a lathi (wooden log). PW-2 Babulal stated that upon hearing the cries of PW-3, he saw the accused assaulting someone; he reached the spot and found that the injured person was the father of accused; and he prevented the accused from further assaulting his father. PW-4 Dinesh alias Mathu corroborated the testimonies of PW-2 and PW-3. On the other hand, the accused-respondent attempted to suggest that his father sustained injury when he fell from the roof while putting up khapra.

6. On appreciation of evidence, the Trial Court rejected the defence version and found it proved beyond reasonable doubt that the respondent did cause the fatal injury in question. However, the Trial Court proceeded to hold that the act of the accused-respondent had been of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and he was guilty of the offence punishable under Section 304 Part II IPC. The Trial Court was of the view that while causing injury to the head of the deceased, the accused-respondent knew that his act was likely to cause death but he had no such criminal intention as defined in Section 300 IPC and hence, he was not guilty of the offence of murder under Section 302 IPC. The Trial Court further found that the accused furnished a wrong information about accidental injury to the victim so as to save himself from legal punishment and hence, he was also guilty of the offence under Section 201 IPC. However, for the reason that the accused stood convicted for the main offence, the Trial Court chose not to convict him for the offence under Section 201 IPC with reference to the decision of this Court in Kalawati v. State of Himachal Pradesh: AIR 1953 SC 131.

7. Having thus convicted the accused-respondent for the offence under Section 304 Part II IPC, the Trial Court found it just and proper to award him the punishment of 3 years' rigorous imprisonment while also observing that the period of detention already undergone (from 20.05.1996 to 09.09.1996) wou