The court ruled that an FIR lacking mens rea and intention does not constitute an offence under Section 304 IPC, emphasizing the need for careful exercise of inherent powers under Section 482 CrPC.

ORDER :

PRAMOD KUMAR AGRAWAL, J.

1. Petitioner has filed this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking quashing of FIR No. 990/2023 registered at Police Station, Hoshangabad, Kotwali District Narmadapuram for the offence punishable under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code .

2. To resolve the controversy involved in the present case and to answer the rival submissions made by the counsel for the parties, it is necessary to mention relevant facts of the case, which are as under:-

3. An FIR got registered against the petitioner at Police Station, Hoshangabad, Kotwali District Narmadapuram vide FIR No. 990/2023 for the offence punishable under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code .

4. As per prosecution, allegation against the petitioner is that he injected the injection of monocef to the son of the respondent no.2 due to which son of the respondent no.2 namely Prince aged about 11 years, died.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that both the parties have arrived into compromise and complainant does not want to prosecute this case against the petitioner. The compromise arrived at between the parties has been verified by the Registrar J-II on 06.02.2024. He further submitted that the incident took place on 11.10.2023 and FIR has been registered against the present applicant on 01.12.2023 after due delay and there is no proper explanation regarding the same. Police has unnecessarily registered the case under Section 304 of IPC against the present applicant, which is not sustainable under the law. On the basis of compromise also, the FIR as well as criminal proceeding deserves to be quashed.

6. It is further submitted that the overt act is alleged against the present petitioner does not fall within the definition of Section 299 of IPC and therefore, no offence under Section 304 of IPC is made out against the applicant. The basic ingredients of Section 299 of IPC are totally missing. There is no mensrea alleged in the FIR against the applicant/accused. Even the intention or knowledge of the act is also missing in this case. Hence, he cannot be implicated in the crime in question. In support of his submissions, counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance on the decisions in the case of Mahadev Prasad Kaushik Vs. State of U.P and another ( Cr.A.No.1625/2008 decided on 17.10.2008 ) in which Supreme Court has held has under:

29. There is thus distinction between Section 304 and Section 304A. Section 304A carves out cases where death is caused by doing a rash or negligent act which does not amount to culpable homicide not amounting to murder within the meaning of Section 299 or culpable homicide amounting to murder u/s 300, IPC . In other words, Section 304A excludes all the ingredients of Section 299 as also of Section 300. Where intention or knowledge is the motivating force' of the act complained of, Section 304A will have to make room for the graver and more serious charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder or amounting to murder as the facts disclose. The section has application to those cases where there is neither intention to cause death nor knowledge that the act in all probability will cause death.

7. He further placed reliance in the case of State of Rajasthan Vs. Chhittarmal (2007) 10 SCC 792 , it is held that in absence of intention to cause death, the offence under Section 302 of IPC is not attracted and converted for offence under section 304-A of IPC .

8. In the case of Shiji @ Pappu and Others Vs. Radhika and another ( Criminal Appeal No.2094/2011 decided on 14.11.2011 ) whereby, it is held as under:

13. It is manifest that simply because an offence is not compoundable u/s 320 IPC is by itself no reason for the High Court to refuse exercise of its power u/s 482 Code of Criminal Procedure . That power can in our opinion be exercised in cases where there is no chance of recording a conviction against the accused and the entire exercise of a trial is destined to be an exercise in