The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a 20-year-old son who was accused of killing his bedridden father.

The accused had filed an Application under Section 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), seeking bail in connection with a case registered for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A Single Bench of Justice Milind N. Jadhav said, “Taking an overall view as to how the incident may have transpired from the available material on record, I am prima facie of the opinion that the situation leading to the ultimate assault was a result of grave provocation because of the precursor incidents with respect to victim hurling repeated barrage of abuses not only on the Applicant but also his mother, which could not be handled by the Applicant’s 20 year old adolescent mind at that stage.”

Advocate Aruna S. Pai appeared on behalf of the Applicant/Accused while APP Mahalakshmi Ganapathy appeared on behalf of the Respondent/State.

Facts of the Case

The victim i.e., the Applicant’s father aged about 69 years old was unwell and bedridden. Seldom he used to get up from his bed for his ablutions and he would require care and support even for passing urine. A urine pot was present in the house and admittedly the victim’s wife and the Applicant/accused both being his immediate and close family members used to aid and assist him for the same. The victim was a chronic alcoholic, suffering from kidney ailment, and used to consume tobacco leading to his medical condition. One day when the accused returned from his college, his mother was not present in the house as she used to work as house maid. At that time, the victim was taking medication/tablets which were opposed to by the accused on the ground that the said tablets were not prescribed by any physician and they would ultimately harm him if they were taken without prescription. This intervention of the accused was not taken kindly by his father and there was a verbal altercation between the father and son which escalated further.

The victim in view of the ignominy suffered by him was constantly hurling abuses on to the accused as also, his mother. This repeated barrage of abuses had a deleterious effect on the young mind of the accused and like any other young son he retaliated by asking his father to ‘shut-up’ and mind his own business and while doing so in return ended up abusing him. All this was confessed by the accused in his statement. The situation escalated to such an extent that the accused could not control his urge to quieten the victim, leading to inflicting 3-4 blows with the milestone which was lying in the house. After the father was hurt because of inflicting of the blows, he continued abusing the accused even thereafter and this situation irked the accused to such an extent that he immediately lay hand on the kitchen knife and inflicted a sharp incised wound on his neck to quieten him. Thereafter, the accused came out of his house and bolted the house from the outside, went to his immediate neighbour, borrowed Rs. 100/- from the neighbour, took a rickshaw, and went to the nearest Police Station where he confessed to having killed his father and narrated the incident which occurred. The father was moved to the hospital where he was declared dead on admission.

Reasoning

The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, observed, “… I am of the opinion that the Applicant should be given a chance to make an attempt to demonstrate that he has reformed his conduct and is leading a law-abiding life with prospects of making a positive impact on society.”

The Court said that it’s inclined to grant bail to the accused in order to ensure that an opportunity is given to him to complete his Management Degree studies on his release from prison in the next academic year and continue his education.

“If Applicant is released from jail the avenue will be open for him to continue his Management studies in the forthcoming academic year 2025-2026 and become a responsible citizen”, it added.

The Court concluded that every attempt should be made by ensuring that the accused is accorded an opportunity to continue and go back to his studies.

Accordingly, the High Court granted bail to the accused on furnishing a bond of Rs. 25,000/- with one or two sureties in the like amount.

Cause Title- Tejas Shamsunder Shinde v. The State of Maharashtra (Neutral Citation: 2025:BHC-AS:5112)

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