No Pre-Planned Act, No Intention To Cause Death- Supreme Court Modifies Conviction U/s. 307 IPC To Section 326 IPC
The Supreme Court has modified the conviction of a man, accused of using his tailoring scissors to injure the respondent, from Section 307 of Indian Penal Code to Section 326 of the IPC as there was no pre-planned act and the injuries were not caused with the intention to cause death.
The Bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal observed that “...the scissors which was seized by the police is small scissors which is used by tailors. With the aforesaid evidence on record and the kind of weapon used, in our view the offence will not fall within Section 307 I.P.C. From the reasons for fight as are emerging on record, it doesn’t seem to be pre-planned act. It, at the most, can fall within the four corners of Section 326 IPC as a sharp-edged weapon was used. The injuries were not caused with an intention to cause death and were not sufficient to cause death. Hence, in our view the conviction of the appellant with respect Section 307 IPC cannot be sustained however the offence under Section 326 IPC is made out.”
Advocate-on-record Sameer Srivastava appeared for the petitioner and Advocate-on-record Sumeer Sodhi appeared for the respondent-State.
In this case, the appeal was preferred against the order of the Chhattisgarh High Court whereby the appellant-accused was convicted for offences under Section 307, 341 and 506B of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 5 years.
The case of the respondent was that the appellant-accused had abused and threatened to kill him and caused injuries on the left side of his abdomen and left thigh with his tailoring scissors.
The Counsel for the appellant contended that the fight was on account of the fact that the complainant was having an evil eye on the wife of the appellant. In such circumstances, if there was sudden fight, it could not be said to a case in which mens rea was there.
The Apex Court noted that the fact that the injured had inappropriate relations with the wife of the appellant was not disputed as the injured had admitted the fact in his cross-examination.
Moreover, the weapon used by the appellant was scissors, which was not a normal weapon of offence in case there was any intention to cause death, said the Apex Court.
Consequently, the Apex Court sustained the conviction under Section 341 and 506B of IPC and reduced the sentence awarded to the appellant to the period already undergone and allowed the appeal.
Cause Title- Panchram v. The State Of Chhattisgarh & Anr.
