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2014 Supreme(Cal) 652
High Court of Judicature at Calcutta
NISHITA MHATRE & SAMAPTI CHATTERJEE, JJ.
Prabir Kayal & Others
Versus
The State of West Bengal
C.R.A. No. 524 of 2005 (Appellate Side)
Decided on : 12-11-2014
For the Appellants:Amitava Chowdhuri, Aloke Cahtterjee, Advocates.
For the Respondent:Manjit Singh, Pawan Kr. Gupta, Advocates.
The court clarified the distinction between intention and knowledge in the context of causing death, holding that the presence of knowledge that an injury is likely to cause death does not necessarily imply the intention to cause death.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL APPEAL - SECTION 304 PART-I READ WITH SECTION 34 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE - FACTUAL MATRIX OF ASSAULT AND SUBSEQUENT DEATH - ANALYSIS OF WITNESS TESTIMONIES AND MEDICAL EVIDENCE - LEGAL INTERPRETATION OF INTENT AND CAUSATION - CONVICTION UNDER SECTION 304 PART-II OF IPC
Fact of the Case:
The appellants were convicted under Section 304 Part-I read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code for causing the death of the victim, Ganesh, by striking him on the head with a wooden staff during an altercation over a plum tree. The victim's parents, Jayanta Bagani and Sonali, witnessed the assault and were also attacked by the appellants. Ganesh succumbed to his injuries two days later at Medical College, Kolkata.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the assault on Sonali due to lack of documentary evidence. The court also held that the victim's parents were not eyewitnesses to the incident, but relied on the testimonies of two other eyewitnesses, Namita Naskar and an unnamed witness, who corroborated each other's accounts. The court rejected the defense's suggestion that the victim's injuries were caused by a fall from a plum tree, based on the medical evidence that the nature of the injuries was consistent with an assault.
Issues: 1. Whether the prosecution proved the assault on Sonali. 2. Whether the victim's parents were eyewitnesses to the incident. 3. Whether the victim's injuries were caused by an assault or a fall from a tree. 4. Whether the appellants had the intention to cause the victim's death.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the prosecution failed to establish the assault on Sonali due to the absence of documentary evidence of treatment or medical records. 2. The court found that the victim's parents were not eyewitnesses to the incident based on the testimonies of the two eyewitnesses who stated that they did not see the parents at the scene. 3. The court rejected the defense's argument that the victim's injuries were caused by a fall from a tree, relying on the medical evidence that the nature of the injuries was consistent with an assault. 4. The court concluded that Prabir, who struck the victim with the wooden staff, had the knowledge that the injury was likely to cause death, but lacked the intention to cause the victim's death, and thus convicted him under Section 304 Part-II of the IPC.
Final Decision: The court partly allowed the appeal, acquitting the appellants Pranab, Pratap, Archana, and Pradip of all charges. Prabir was convicted under Section 304 Part-II of the IPC and sentenced to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5,000, with the sentence already served to be set off.
Nishita Mhatre, J.
1. The appellants are aggrieved by the decision of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, 1st Fast Track Court, Howrah, dated 16th July, 2005 in Sessions Trial Case No. 366/04. The Sessions Court has convicted the appellants under Section 304 Part-I read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused persons have not been found guilty of the charges framed under Section 325 read with Section 34 and Section 341 read with Section 35 of the Indian Penal Code. The appellants have been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for ten years each and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred only) each; in the event of failure to pay the fine the appellants have been directed to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month.
2. The complainant Jayanta Bagani submitted his complaint on 26th February, 2004 complaining that at 6.00 a.m. that morning, his son Ganesh aged about 16 years, had been struck on his head with a wooden staff (buttam). He has mentioned in his complaint that the victim was held by Pradip while Prabir Kayal struck him on his head. Ganesh, the victim suffered a severe bleeding injury. On hearing a noise the complainant’s wife Sonali rushed and tried to rescue her son. However, Prabir, his wife Archana and his three brothers Pranab, Pradeep and Pratap beat up Sonali and dumped her in a drain. Ganesh was admitted into a hospital in Howrah. Thereafter, he was shifted to another hospital, Medical College, Kolkata where he died two days later.
3. Liluah P.S. Case No. 34 of 2004 was started on 26th February, 2004 under sections 341/325/34 IPC. Ganesh died on 28th February after he was referred to Medical College, Kolkata.
4. The appellants were arrested on different dates and claimed to be tried. A charge under section 304/34 was also framed against the appellants as the victim had died. Evidence of 15 witnesses was recorded before the Trial Court on the basis of which the appellants have been convicted and sentenced as above.
5. PW 1 is the father of the victim, Ganesh. He has stated that on 26th February, 2004 he awoke on hearing a hue and cry. He saw Prabir on the Panchayat Road behind his house grabbing the victim. Archana Koyal handed over a wooden staff to Prabir who struck Ganesh on the head. He also mentioned that Prabir had caught hold of Ganesh while Prabir struck him on the head. This witness has spoken about Archana tying a saree around the neck of his wife, Sonali and the fact that Pranab and Pratap gave Sonali fist blows and kicked her, causing her to fall in the drain. The witness claims to have picked up his bleeding son and taken him to Howrah District Hospital in a car. He reported the incident on the night of 26th February, 2004 to the Police Station. The FIR was scribed according to his dictation by Jagannath Sarkar, that is, PW 14. This witness has further mentioned that Ganesh was shifted to Medical College, Kolkata at 2.00 a.m., that same night and he died at about 4.00 p.m. on 28th February, 2004 in that hospital. According to this witness, Ganesh was attacked because of a prior quarrel over plucking of plums from a tree on 23rd February, 2014. The witness mentioned in his cross-examination that he could not recollect whether Prabir had struck Ganesh with the wooden staff. He has further stated that he reached the place of occurrence when the accused persons were fleeing away after people gathered over there. According to him, Sonali was treated in a private hospital for the injuries sustained by her.
6. PW2 is the victim’s mother, Sonali. She has corroborated the testimony of her husband PW 1. However, from her evidence it is apparent that she reached the place of occurrence a little before her husband. She has described the manner in which she was assaulted by the appellants before her husband and other people from the locality arrived on the scene. She has mentioned the names of PWs 3 and 4 as persons present at the scene of offence. Acco
