New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) A man held guilty for injuring another with scissors in 1999 for allegedly having illicit relations with his wife on Tuesday got reprieve from the Supreme Court which reduced the sentence awarded to him to period already served in jail, saying his conviction for offence of attempt to murder cannot be sustained.
The apex court said offence under section 326 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, was made out against the convict.
“The incident in the case had taken place 23/24 years ago. The root cause, as per the stand of the appellant (convict) is that the injured was having inappropriate relations with his wife, is not a matter of dispute as the injured in his cross-examination had admitted this fact,” a bench of Justices A S Oka and Rajesh Bindal said.
The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal filed by the man against the October 2018 judgement of the Chhattisgarh High Court which had upheld the trial court’s order convicting and sentencing him in the case.
The man was convicted of the offences, including under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC for which he was awarded five-year imprisonment besides a fine.
The apex court noted as per the prosecution’s case, in May 1999, when the complainant was returning from a pond after taking bath, the appellant had caused injuries to him with scissors suspecting he had illicit relations with his wife.
The counsel appearing for the appellant had argued before the top court that it was a case of sudden fight with no intention to cause any injuries to the complainant and, as the appellant was a tailor, he was carrying scissors.
“The weapon used is a scissors which is not a normal weapon of offence in case there is any intention to cause death,” the bench noted, noting that the appellant was a tailor.
Referring to the evidence on record and the kind of weapon used, the bench said the offence would not fall within section 307 of the IPC.
“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 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) as a sharp-edged weapon was used,” it said, adding 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 to section 307 IPC cannot be sustained however, the offence under section 326 IPC is made out,” it said, while sustaining his conviction for the offences under two other sections of the IPC.
The bench said at the time of hearing it was pointed out that the appellant had already undergone actual sentence of 11 months and 24 days.
“Considering the fact that the incident had taken place about 23/24 years ago, in our view the sentence awarded to the appellant deserves to be reduced to the period already undergone. The amount of fine imposed is sustained,” it said. PTI ABA ABA SK SK
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