The court emphasized rehabilitation over punishment for young offenders, allowing bail based on the Applicant's age and circumstances surrounding the incident.

JUDGMENT :

[MILIND N. JADHAV, J.]

1. Heard Ms. Pai, learned Advocate for Applicant and Ms. Ganapathy, learned APP for Respondent – the State of Maharashtra.

2. This is an Application by Applicant who is 20 years old under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short ‘Cr.P.C.’) seeking Bail in connection with C.R. No.48 of 2023 registered with Tilak Nagar Police Station, Dombivali (East), Kalyan indicted for offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short ‘IPC’).

3. The victim in the present case is the Applicant’s own father who was about 69 years old on the date of the incident. The incident happened on 22.02.2023 at about 05:00 p.m. in the evening. Record shows that the victim was unwell and bed-ridden. Seldom he used to get up from his bed for his ablutions and he would require care and support even for passing urine. A urine pot is present in the house and admittedly victim’s wife and Applicant both being his immediate and close family members used to aid and assist the victim for the same.

4. In the above backdrop on the date of incident it is seen that at about 13:30 hours (01:30 p.m.) Applicant returned back from his college. He completed his Higher Secondary Certificate School Examination having scored 78.83 % marks and was pursuing further education as a Second Year student of Bachelor of Management studies in K. V. Pendharkar College, Dombivali (East), District – Thane. The record also shows that the victim was a chronic alcoholic, suffering from kidney ailment and used to consume tobacco leading to his medical condition.

5. The mother of Applicant and wife of victim was not present in the house on the date of incident as she used to work as house maid. Record shows that on the date of incident prior to the incident between 01:30 p.m. to 05:00 p.m., Applicant had his lunch after returning from college and was present in the house and on a couple of occasions, the victim i.e. his father passed urine and Applicant aided him to pass urine in the urine pot and also washed the urine pot and kept it back in the same condition.

6. However, at about 05:00 p.m. the victim was taking certain medication / tablets which were opposed to by Applicant on the ground that the said tablets were not prescribed by any physician and they would ultimately harm him if they were taken without prescription. This intervention of Applicant was not taken kindly by his father – the victim who was visibly suffering and there was a verbal altercation between the father and son which escalated further. For a long time even prior to the incident having happened the so- called verbal altercation between the father and the son persisted and it is seen from the record that the father - victim in view of the ignominy suffered by him was constantly hurling abuses on to the Applicant as also, his mother. This repeated barrage of abuses had a deleterious effect on the young mind of Applicant and like any other young son he retaliated by asking his father to ‘shut-up’ and mind his own business and while doing so in return ended up abusing him. All this is confessed by Applicant in his statement which is recorded three days after the incident on 25.02.2023 which is appended at page No.38 of the Application.

7. Thereafter since the victim – father did not arrest the situation and however retaliated by repeatedly abusing the Applicant and his mother, the situation escalated to such an extent that Applicant could not control his urge to quieten the victim i.e. his father leading to inflicting 3 – 4 blows with the milestone (okVk) which was lying in the house. After the father was hurt because of inflicting of the blows he continued abusing the Applicant even thereafter and this situation irked Applicant to such an extent that he immediately lay hand on the kitchen knife and inflicted a sharp incised wound on his neck to quieten him.

8. What transpired thereafter is that Applicant came out of his house and bolted the house fro