Judgment

SEN, J.:- The short point involved in this appeal is whether the appellant is guilty of culpable homicide amounting to murder punishable under Section 302, Indian Penal Code. or only of culpable homicide not amounting to murder punishable under S. 304. Part II Indian Penal Code (hereinafter called the Code). It is not disputed that the appellant. Jagrup Singh. struck a blow with the blunt side of a gandhala on the head of the deceased. Chanan Singh. who was his uncle, resulting in his death. It appears that after the death of Joginder Singh the deceased Chanan Singh was looking after the family of his brother Joginder Singh consisting of his widow Mst. Dalip Kaur and her children. He had settled the betrothal and marriage of Mst. Dalip Kaurs daughter. Tej Kaur. The prosecution case is that the appellant Jagrup Singh and his brothers Billaur Singh, Jarmail Singh, and Waryam Singh, co-accused, although they were collaterals of Joginder Singh, were not invited by Mst. Dalip Kaur to the marriage of her daughter Tej Kaur, at the instance of the deceased Chanan Singh. On account of this there was ill-feeling between the parties.

2. On the fateful evening. i. e. on 20-3-1978. at 5.15 p. m. the marriage of Tej Kaur was performed. It is alleged that shortly thereafter. the appellant Jagrup Singh armed with a gandhala, his brothers Billaur Singh armed with gandasa and Jarmail. Singh and Waryam Singh armed with lathis emerged suddenly and made a joint assault on the deceased Chanan Singh and the three eve-witnesses, Gurdev Singh, PW 10. Sukhdev Singh. PW 11 and Makhan Singh. PW 12. The deceased alone with the three eve-witnesses was rushed to the Rural Dispensary, Rori where they were examined at 6 p. m. by Dr. Bishnoi, PW 3. who found that the deceased had a lacerated wound 9 cm x 11/2 cm bone deep on the right parietal region, 9 cm away from the tip of right pinna: margins of wound were red, irregular and were bleeding on touch, direction of wound was antero-posterior. The deceased was in a serious condition and therefore, he was referred by Dr. Bishnoi to the Civil Hospital, Sirsa, where he died on the morning of 21-3-1978 at 2.10 a. m.

3. Dr. Karan Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Sirsa. PW 1, performed an autopsy on the dead body of the deceased. He found the following external injuries :

A stitched contused wound 91/2 cm long situated on right side of the head, 9 cm above the top of pinna and 9 cm above the eve brow Skull deep, direction antero-posterior.

On dissection, he found the following internal injury.

A fracture line running starting from the lower and the anterior part of parietal bone injuring the middle meningeal artery near its entrance into the skull and traversing medially across the base of right middle fossa. crossing the mid-line and extending slightly to the left of mid-line. There was a dark red haematoma (extra-dural) 3" x 3" overlying the parietal and temporal lobes of brain on right side and the area was compressed;

In his opinion, the death of the deceased was due to cerebral compression as a result of the head injury which was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.

4. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana, agreeing with the Additional Sessions Judge, Sirsa, held that the appellant struck a blow on the head of the deceased with the blunt side of the gandhala with the intent of causing such bodily injury which was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death and that being so, the appellant was, guilty of culpable homicide accounting to murder Punishable under S. 302 of the Code.

5. In assailing the conviction, learned counsel for the appellant contends that the appellant having struck a solitary blow on the head of the deceased with the blunt side of the gandhala, can be attributed with the knowledge that it would cause an injury which was likely to cause death and not with any intention to cause the death of the deceased. The offence committed by the appellant,