The burden of proof on an accused claiming the defense of insanity under Section 84 of the IPC is not unduly heavy and requires a preponderance of probability in favor of the accused's plea of unsoundness of mind.

M. SADASIVAYYA, J.

( 1 ) THE appellant has been convicted for an offence punishable Under Section 302 of the I, P. C. and has been sentenced to imprisonment for life by the Sessions Judge of South Kanara, in sessions Case No. 1 of 1957 on the file of his Court. The prosecution case was that at about 2 P. M, on 29-11-1956, at Sooda village of Karkal Taluk, the accused caused the death of one mutliayya Shetty by hitting him with a wooden seat (Mane) which has been marked as M. O. 1 in the case. The eye-witness to the actual occurrence, was P. W. 1 Shamba, a girl of the age of about ten years. Muthayya Shetty appears to have been an old man of the age of about 70 years. P. W. 1 has given evidence in respect of the following facts: On the afternoon of the occurrence Muthayya shetty came to the house of P. W. 1 and enquired where her father was; at that time P. W. 1 was alone in the house and she informed Muthayya Shetty that her father had gone to his land. Just at that time the accused came out from his house towards the courtyard of the house of P. W. 1; muthayya Shetty went towards the accused. Thereupon, the accused picked up the wooden piece M. O. 1 which was lying nearby and threw it at Muthayya Shetty; M. O. 1 hit Muthayya Shetty on his head and Muthayya Shetty fell down. The accused again took M. O. 1 and gave one blow on the head of Muthayya Shetty. P. W. 1 shouted and the accused chased her. P. W. 1 ran to the place where her father was and informed him of the incident; Koraga Shetty and Achu Shetty who are brothers of the accused were also with the father of P. W. 1 at that time. That P. W. 1 ran to the field and informed her father and Koraga Shetty and Achu Shetty, is confirmed by the evidence of P. W. 2 Babu Shetty the father of P. W. 1 and the evidence of P. W. 3 Koraga Shetty. The evidence of P. Ws. 2 and 3 shows that, on being informed of the occurrence by P. W. 1, they and Achu Shetty ran to the house of P. W. 2 and found that Muthayya Shetty was lying, dead there and that M. O. 1 was lying near him. They also saw tile accused lying in a Suggi field nearby; on seeing them, the accused got up and ran away. P. W. 3 and Achu Shetty pursvied the accused; but, the accused took a bill-hook and came towards P. W. 3 to cut him. P. VV. 3 and Achu Shetty caught hold of the accused and wrested the bill-hook from his hand and tied him up. Thereafter, P. W. 2 got the further details of the incident and then went and made a report of the incident to the Kitel P. W. From the evidence of P. Ws. 2 and 7 it appears that this report was made by P. W. 2 to P. W. 7, at about 4 or 4-30 P. M. the same day; P. W. 7 sent Ex. P-l together with his own report as per Ex. P-4 to Karkal Police Station and he also sent copies of the same to the First Class Magistrate at Karkal; he-then proceeded to the spot where the dead body was lying and kept a man to keep a watch over it, till the Police arrived. The Circle Inspector of Police of Karkal Circle who has been examined as P. W. 11, is the investigating Officer in the case. He received the first information report at Karkal, at about 10-20 A. M. on 30-11-1956. Then he proceeded at once to Sooda Village which was about 14 miles away from Karkal, On reaching the scene of the occurrence, he found the dead body in the courtyard of P. W. 2's house and he held the inquest over it. He seized M. O. 1 which was lying near the dead body and he sent the dead body to the hospital for post-mortem examination. On going to the house of the accused, he found that die accused had been confined in a room, his. hand and foot tied with coir rope. He examined a number of witnesses on the same day. In ex. P-l which is the report of P. W. 2, it is stated that the-accused had been suffering from epileptic fits since-some years and that the said disease had become aggravated on the date of the occurrence. From the-evidence of P. Ws. 1 to 3 also, it appeared that the accused had been suffering from epileptic fits and t

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