For a conviction under Section 307 IPC, there must be clear evidence of intent to kill or grievous injury, which was absent in this case.

J U D G M E N T

The appellant herein challenges the conviction and sentence against him under Section 307 I.P.C in S.C

279/2003 of the Court of Session, Kottayam.

2. The prosecution case is that at about 8 p.m on

22.9.2002, at the telephone booth run by the wife of the de facto complainant John, the accused assaulted him and inflicted serious injuries on his body with a knife in an attempt on his life. On the basis of the First Information Statement given by the de facto complainant John, the Police registered the crime. During investigation, the weapon of offence was recovered by the Sub Inspector under Section 27 of the Evidence Act. After closing the investigation, the Sub Inspector submitted final report in court. On committal, the case came up before the Court of Session from where it was made over to the learned Additional Sessions Judge (Adhoc)I, Kottayam for trial . 3. The Police submitted final report in this case case under Sections 341, 323 and 307 I.P.C. The accused appeared before the trial court and pleaded not guilty to the charge framed against him under Sections 341, 323 and 307 I.P.C. The prosecution examined eight witnesses in the trial court and proved Exts.P1 to P11 documents. The MO1 to MO3 properties were also identified. MO1 is the weapon of offence identified by the material witnesses. When examined under Section 313 Cr.P.C, the accused denied the incriminating circumstances and projected a defence of total denial. He did not adduce any evidence in defence.

4. On an appreciation of the evidence, the trial court found the accused not guilty under Sections 341 and 323 I.P.C and accordingly he was acquitted of those offences. However, the accused was found guilty under Section 307 I.P.C. On conviction, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years and to pay a fine of ₹4000/- by judgment dated 30.11.2004. Aggrieved by the judgment of conviction, the accused has come up in appeal.

5. Before discussing the evidence as regards the assault made by the accused, let me examine whether the conviction in this case under Section 307 I.P.C can be sustained. PW1 is the de facto complainant who sustained injuries in the incident, and PW8 is the Doctor, who proved the Ext.P11 wound certificate issued by the Doctor who actually examined and treated the injured at the hospital. PW8 is not the Doctor, who treated the patient at the hospital, and so his evidence regarding the things noted by the other Doctor cannot be given much weight. However, he proved the wound certificate containing the description of the injuries noted by the Doctor on the body of PW1. The injuries noted in Ext.P3 wound certificate are (1) an incised wound over the left chest wall just medial to the left nipple 2x0.5 cms cutting the muscles and (2) an incised wound over the left iliac crest 2x0.5 cms cutting the muscles and reaching the bone. The Doctor stated that the injury No.1 may cause death in the ordinary circumstances. Being not the Doctor who examined the injuries and noted the features of the injuries, this evidence cannot be accepted by the court without clear medical materials supporting the versions. The Doctor did not explain how the injury No.1 is fatal in nature. By nature the injuries are simple, and no injury, by nature, is grievous. The wound certificate will not show that any vital organ of the injured was cut. The learned counsel cited a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court inSarju Prasad v. State of Bihar [1965 KHC 566] where the Hon'ble supreme Court reversed the findings under I.P.C in a case where no vital organ of the injured was cut with the weapon of offence. Anyway, in this case I find that in the absence of proper supporting materials including medical materials, the versions of PW8 who had not actually seen and examined the injuries at the hospital cannot be accepted to find a case under I.P.C. The evidence given by the victim also does not contain the essentials of the offence. What is at the bes