A bench of Justice Bakhru in the case titled SONU @ SHAHNAWAZ vs STATE (NCT GOVT OF DELHI) on 19.11.2019 has held that even a kitchen knife does qualify for section 397 IPC.
While dealing with a kitchen knife used in robbery, the Delhi High Court observed and held as under:
"In State of Maharashtra v. Vinayak Tukaram Utekar and Anr.: 1997 (2) Mh.L.J. 527, the Court observed that “there can be no quarrel that knife is a deadly weapon within the ambit of expression “deadly weapon” as used in section 397, Indian Penal Code.”...
It is apparent from the above that the issue with respect to the divergent views in regard to whether a knife ought to be categorized as a “deadly weapon” depending on its dimensions or other features, stands resolved. The decisions rendered by this Court holding that the question whether a knife is a deadly weapon would depend on the facts of the case, are not good law as none of the decisions had referred to the observations made by the Supreme Court in Phool Kumar v. Delhi Administration (supra) and Ashfaq v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) (supra). The said decisions had also not noticed the earlier decision of this Court in Salim v. State (Delhi Admn.) (supra)...
In view of the observations made by the Supreme Court in Phool Kumar v. Delhi Administration (supra); and Ashfaq v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) (supra) and decisions of this Court in Salim v. State (Delhi Admn.) (supra), Ikram Ansari v. State (supra) and Sanjay Kumar v. State (supra), it is not essential to categorize the knife in order to determine whether it is a deadly weapon. Thus, irrespective of whether a knife is a kitchen knife, or a butcher knife, it would qualify as a deadly weapon for the purposes of Section 397 of the IPC...
In view of the above, this Court finds no merit in the contention that since the knife used by the appellant in committing the offence was a kitchen knife, the same was not punishable under Section 397 of the IPC".
Read the Order here:
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