A person is exempt from criminal responsibility for an offense if, at the time of committing the offense, they were of unsound mind and incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that they were doing what was either wrong or contrary to law.

( 1. ) THE non-applicant accused Chhotelal was convicted of murder of his wife and child by the Sessions Judge, Nimar, and sentenced to death. The case has been referred to us for confirmation of that sentence under Section 374 of the Code of criminal Procedure. The accused has declined to appeal.

( 2. ) THE learned counsel for the accused Chhotelal did not dispute the factual responsibility of the accused for the homicide of his wife Mst. Pyaribai and his daughter Narbadi, committed on the night of 9-12-1956 at mauza Sirra. Indeed, the evidence on the point is overwhelming and the accused himself admitted it, by pleading guilty to the charge at the commencement of the Sessions Trial. The only point pressed before us that in the circumstances proved, the plea of insanity raised by the counsel for the accused in the Court of Session had been established.

( 3. ) THE facts of the case shortly stated are as follows: The accused was a workman in the railway gang No. 98 working at mauza Sirra. He lived in one of the railway quarters along with his wife and child. These quarters are near Sirra railway crossing. Sunday, the 9th December, was his weekly day off and therefore he had not gone for work that day. He was due to join duty on the 10th morning but he did not go to work that morning. Paridin (P. W. 7) is the mate of the gang. He was sitting in the railway crossing chauki at noon of the 10th when the accused passed by. He was coming from the side of the Sirra railway Station. According to Paridin (P. W. 7),

"i asked him whether she was suffering from fever. He replied, no 1 hacked (her). Then I looked at his clothes and saw that blood had stuck to them. " Paridin informed the Patel Shamlal (P. W. 1) who also questioned him (the accused) when the accused again confessed to have cut his wife and daughter with an axe. The accused then went towards his quarters.

( 4. ) SHAMLAL (P. W. 1) and Paridin (P. W. 7), accompanied with several others, then went to his quarters. The doors were open and on being called, the accused replied, sir, I am taking meals, I am comings. Immediately thereafter, he came out with a lota. On going inside, the witnesses saw the dead bodies lying on a cot covered with a quilt. The matter was reported to the police. The police came in the afternoon and went to his quarters. His blood-stained clothes, which he was still wearing, were seized. He also produced a blood-stained axe (Article A ). The Serologist confirmed the presence of human blood, both on his clothes as well as on the axe (Article A ). The dead body of Mst. Pyaribai was lying supine on her right side, the right hand supporting the head for a pillow, and the child was lying supine on her left side in the posture of suckling the milk from the breast of her mother. There were six incised injuries on the person of Mst. Narbadi.

( 5. ) THE brutal character of the attack can be gathered from the nature and the location of the injuries which were as follows: Injuries on the person of Mst. Pyaribai, vide Exh. P. 1:

1. Incised transverse injury: -- on the upper part of the left clavicle 3"x 1/2"x21/2" maximum depth lateral-wards. 2. Incised transverse injury 1/2" above injury No. 1, 2"x 1/2x2 1/2" joining injury No. 1 in its depth lateralwards. On further examination it was found that the jugular vein was cut as also in soft parts below. 3. Incised transverse injury on left side of the face starting from in lower end of the nose and extending lateral wards 4 1/2 x 1/2" laterally, lateral half, bone-deep and medial half, joining in cavity of the mouth below. 4. Incised oblique injury starting from the lateral left junction of the two lips 4" x1" bone deep, fractured upper end of the left mandible which is seen exposed, joining the cavity of the mouth. 5. Incised oblique injury, 5"x2" extending from the mid and anterior part of the body of the mandible and going downwards and lateralwards, in medial part is bone deep and the lateral part is muscle deep.