An offence qualifies as culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Exception 4 to Section 300 when it arises from a sudden, unpremeditated fight in the heat of passion, provided the offender has not acted in a cruel manner or taken undue advantage of the situation.

NAFR

Judgment on Board

Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

1. Heard Mr. Ashok Kumar Dewangan, learned counsel for the appellant as well as Mr. Priyank Rathi, learned Government Advocate, appearing for respondent / State.

2. This criminal appeal filed by the appellant under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, ‘Cr.P.C.’) is directed against the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 25.11.2023 passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Sarguja (Ambikapur), District- Surguja (C.G.) in Sessions Trial No. 185/2022, whereby the appellant have been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default of payment of fine, additional R.I. for 03 months.

3. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the accused Milan Bargah was married to Moti Bai, the sister of the deceased Samundar Yadav, about 12 years prior to the date of incident in Village Kedama. After the marriage, the father of Moti Bai had given a piece of land adjacent to his house to the accused, where the accused constructed a house and started residing with his family. It is further alleged that the accused intended to acquire more land from his father-in-law. On account of such intention, disputes frequently arose between the accused and the deceased Samundar Yadav, who objected to the accused allegedly encroaching upon the land.

4. On 23.10.2022, the deceased Samundar Yadav was sitting in front of his house, while his mother Siddhi Bai was present nearby. At that time, the accused Milan Bargah reached there in an intoxicated condition. On seeing the accused, the deceased objected and stated that the land belonged to him and accused Milan was trying to usurp the same. This led to a quarrel between them. During the course of the altercation, the accused took out a knife and inflicted a stab injury on the chest of the deceased, due to which the deceased fell down outside the courtyard and sustained serious injuries. It is also the case of the prosecution that immediately after the incident, the accused went to his father-in-law Bhanwarsai, holding a blood-stained knife, and stated that since Samundar Yadav was accusing him of occupying his land and attempting to grab it, he had stabbed him near the house and killed him. Upon hearing this, Bhanwarsai rushed to the spot and found his son Samundar Yadav lying in a pool of blood with injury on his chest. Despite efforts, the deceased did not respond.

5. Thereafter, with the help of neighbours namely Sushil Tirkey, Rohit Yadav and Sukhu Bargah, the injured was taken to PHC Kedma, where the doctor examined him and declared him dead. The information regarding the death of Samundar Yadav was given by Bhanwarsai at Police Outpost Kedma, on the basis of which an unnumbered FIR (Ex.P-1) was registered, followed by registration of offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The said information was forwarded to Police Station Udaipur, where FIR No. 171/2022 (Ex.P-24) under Section 302 IPC was formally registered against the accused.

6. During the course of investigation, inquest proceedings were conducted and inquest report (Ex.P-5