Patna High Court: Ahsanuddin Amanullah, J. dismissed the petition filed against the order passed in Sessions Trial by which the opposite parties 2 to 4 had been acquitted under Sections 447, 307, 504/34 of the Penal Code, 1860 and convicted only under Sections 323 and 341 of Penal Code, 1860.
The petitioner had filed a case under Sections 447, 341, 323, 327 and 504/34 of the Penal Code in which cognizance was taken under all the Sections. After trial, the judgment resulted in the acquittal of the opposite parties under Sections 447, 307, 504/34 of the Penal Code and conviction under Sections 323 and 341 of the IPC. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the accused had assaulted him and two others with lathi and iron rod which resulted in a blow to his head and acquittal under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code was not justified. They relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Hari Mohan Mandal v. State of Jharkhand, 2004(3) PLJR (SC) 7, for the proposition that to justify a conviction under Section 307, it is not essential that bodily injury capable of causing death should have been inflicted and it was sufficient if there was present an intent coupled with some overt act in execution thereof and further that merely because the injury inflicted on the victim were simple in nature it would not be correct to acquit under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.
The APP submitted that the assault resulted in only simple injury and even on the head, there was only one lacerated would which clearly does not satisfy the requirement of conviction under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code as it did not disclose premeditated intention to kill, as there was no repetition of blow and even the weapons used could not be said to be weapons which may indicate intention to kill the person assaulted.
The Court found no merit in the present application. The order impugned had discussed the evidence and had rightly convicted the opposite parties 2 to 4 only under Sections 323 and 341 of IPC. In the present case, a single blow which had been found to be simple in nature, on the back of the head, can in no way be construed to be indicative of a premeditated mind to inflict such blow knowing that the same would result in the death of the person. [Md. Nazir v. State of Bihar, 2019 SCC OnLine Pat 2010, decided on 19-11-2019]
