IMPORTANT POINT
Once prosecution establishes existence of three ingredients forming a part of “thirdly” in Section 300 of IPC, it is irrelevant whether there was an intention on part of accused to cause death – It does not matter that there was no intention even to cause injury of a kind that is sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature.

JUDGMENT :

ABHAY S. OKA, J.

Leave granted.

FACTUAL ASPECTS

1. The respondent nos. 1 to 5 are the accused who were prosecuted for the offences punishable under Sections 147, 364, 302/149, 201 and 323/149 of the Indian Penal Code (for short “IPC”).

2. The Sessions Court convicted the respondent nos. 1 to 5 (the accused) for all the aforesaid offences. They were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life for the offence punishable under Sections 302 read with 149 of IPC. For the other offences, lesser punishments were imposed. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently. For the offence punishable under Sections 302, the accused were directed to pay a fine of Rs. 10,000/- each. They were also directed to pay fine for other offences. Out of the fine amount, a sum of Rs. 70,000/- was directed to be paid to the widow of the deceased.

3. Being aggrieved by the Judgment and order of the Sessions Court, the accused preferred an appeal before the High Court of Rajasthan. By the impugned Judgment and order dated 18th July 2016, while maintaining the conviction of the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 147, 364, 201 and 329/149 of IPC, the conviction of the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 302 of IPC was brought down to the offence punishable under Section 304 Part II of IPC and the accused were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 8 years. The fine amount was not disturbed.

4. The appellant, who is the first informant, has taken an exception to the impugned Judgment and order of the High Court. He is the brother of a victim of the offence Vijay Singh (PW-1). The allegation against the accused is also of committing murder of Balveer Singh. Vijay Singh (PW-1) was injured in the incident.

5. From the impugned Judgment and order, it appears that the learned counsel for the accused while arguing the appeal challenged only the conviction of the accused for the offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC. The learned counsel appearing for accused without challenging the incident and participation of the accused in the incident, made a submission before the High Court that the offence established against the accused was the one punishable under Section 304 Part II of IPC. The accused did not challenge the conviction for the other offences.

SUBMISSIONS

6. Mr. Manish K. Bishnoi, the learned counsel appearing for the appellant has taken us through the impugned Judgment and order of the High Court. His submission is that the injuries on the person of the deceased were on vital parts of his body. He pointed out that 6th to 10th ribs of the deceased were found to be fractured and right lung was ruptured. Moreover, there was an injury to his liver. He pointed out the opinion of the medical board that injuries to the vital parts like right lung and liver led to excessive bleeding and shock, which was the cause of death. He submitted that the High Court proceeded on erroneous footing that there were no injuries on the vital parts of the body of the deceased. He further submitted that none of the exceptions to Section 300 of IPC were applicable. He also pointed out that before throwing the body of the deceased into a canal, his face was completely smashed by the accused. He submitted that “thirdly” in Section 300 of IPC was applicable. Dr. Manish Singhvi, the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the State of Rajasthan, supported the appellant.

7. Gp. Capt. Karan Singh Bhati, the learned counsel representing the accused pointed out that there is no evidence on record to show that objects like iron rod and sticks were used to assault the deceased as even PW-1 Vijay Singh has not deposed to that effect in his examination-in-chief. He submitted that no weapons were used to attack the deceased. He submitted that the fact that there was no intention on the part of the accused to kill deceased Balveer Singh is clear from the fact that the accused took Balveer Singh to a doctor. Moreover, the accused took PW-1 Vijay Sing