Bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhusan & M.R. Shah passed a judgment in the case titled as Ananta Kamilya v. State of West Bengal.
The facts of the case were that the accused came to the place of the incident, he did not carry any lathi and/or any other weapon. It was only after some altercation and on the spur of the moment, the accused gave a lathi blow on the head of the deceased and the deceased sustained the injury and there was a fracture on his head.
Learned Counsel on behalf of the accused submitted that there was no intention on the part of the accused to cause the very injury which ultimately led to the death of the deceased. The counsel argued to set aside a conviction for an offence punishable under Section 304 IPC and to convert the same into either Section 304 Part I or Section 304 Part II of the IPC.
Respondent submitted that the injury caused by the accused has been proved to be fatal. It was submitted that even in the case of a single blow, considering the nature of the injury and if the single blow is caused on the vital part of the body, it would be a case under Section 302 IPC considering Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC.
The only question which was posed for consideration of the Court was whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the case would fall under Section 302 IPC or Section 304 of the IPC?
The Supreme Court held that it was true that the deceased died because of the injuries caused by the accused, the incident had taken place on the spur of the moment and after some altercation the accused took the lathi which was lying there and caused the injury on the head of the deceased. There does not appear any intention on the part of the accused to cause the very injury which ultimately led to the death of the deceased. There does not appear to be any premeditation or intention to kill the deceased. Going by the injury sustained by the deceased and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the offence committed by the appellant, at the most, comes under Part I of Section 304 IPC. The offence committed does not amount to murder.
Supreme Court stated that, “The death resulted due to injury in quarrel. Therefore, the case would fall under Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC.”
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