Holding

The Supreme Court held that the High Court may overturn an acquittal by re‑appraising the evidence, provided it furnishes clear reasons, and that credible testimony of interested witnesses cannot be discarded; the appellant’s stabbing with a deadly weapon on a vital part established intention to cause death, warranting conviction under Section 302 IPC.

Summary

The case involves a long-standing feud between two families in Chittoor district, culminating in the stabbing of Purushotham Reddy by appellant Nagaraja Reddy with a Barisa (dagger). The trial court acquitted the accused, extending the benefit of doubt and rejecting the testimony of two eyewitnesses (PW‑1 and PW‑2) on the ground that they were interested witnesses. The Andhra Pradesh High Court reversed the acquittal, holding that the eyewitnesses were credible and convicting the appellant under Section 302 IPC for murder and under Section 324 IPC for injuries to PW‑1 and PW‑2. On appeal before the Supreme Court, the key issues were the scope of the High Court’s power to interfere with an acquittal, the admissibility of testimony from interested witnesses, and whether the offence amounted to murder (Section 302) or culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part II). The Supreme Court held that the High Court may re‑appreciate evidence on an appeal from acquittal if it gives clear reasons, and that credible testimony of interested witnesses cannot be discarded merely for their relationship. It found that the stabbing with a deadly weapon on a vital part, with sufficient force, demonstrated intention to cause death, justifying conviction under Section 302. The appeal was dismissed.

Issues considered

The power of a High Court to interfere with an acquittal on appeal and to re‑appreciate the evidence.
Whether testimony of interested or partisan witnesses can be rejected solely on the basis of their relationship to the deceased.
Whether the offence constitutes murder under Section 302 IPC or culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II.
Whether a single blow necessarily reduces the charge to Section 304.
The adequacy of the trial court’s application of the benefit of doubt principle.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 378
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 147, s. 148, s. 149, s. 300, s. 302, s. 304 Part II, s. 307, s. 324, s. 34

Subjects

murderacquittalappeal from acquittalhigh court powerinterested witnessintention to cause deathSection 302 IPCSection 304 Part II IPCbenefit of doubtcriminal law

Judgment

PULICHERLA NAGARAJU @NAGARAJA REDDY A
v.
STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

AUGUST 18, 2006

(G.P. MATHUR AND R.V.RA VEENDRAN, JJ.] B

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:

Section 378-Appeal against acquittal-Reversal of acquittal-Power
of High Court-Scope and ambit of-Held: The power of the High Court in D
an appeal from acquittal is no different from its power in an appeal from
conviction-It can review and consider the entire evidence and come to its
own conclusions by either accepting the evidence rejected by the trial court
or rejecting the evidence accepted by the trial court-The crux of the matter,
however, is whether the High court is able to give clear reasons to dispel the C
doubt raised and reject the reasons given by the trial court.

Penal Code, 1860: Sections 302, 304 Part II and 324.

Murder-Culpable homicide-Offences falling under S. 302 and S. 304
Part I or II-Distinction between-Factors to be considered-Long standing E
enmity between the families of two brothers-Accused attacked father and
son-Within about half an hour, the deceased went towards the house of the
accused to question him about his high-handed acts-Accused along with
others came from his house armed with a stick and a Barisa-Accused
stabbed thr' deceased near his throat with the Barisa-Deceased collapsed-
Trial court acquitted the accused by extending him benefit of doubt-But F
High Court reversed the finding of acquittal and convicted the accused
under S. 302--Correctness of-Held: The deceased was not armed with any
weapon-There was no indication that he intended to cause any physical
harm to the accused, or that he intended to retaliate for the earlier incident-
There was no provocation, sudden quarrel or fight-The stabbing was with G
great force, causing an injury on a vital part of the body, sufficient in the
ordinaiy course of nature to cause death-Hence conviction of accused
under S. 302 justified

Criminal Trial:
633 H
634 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A Witnesses-Interested or partisan witnesses---J::videntiary value of--
Trial court acquitted the accused by extending him benefit of doubt-The
trial court had rejected the evidence of PW--/ and PW--2 merely because
they were interested witnesses being the brother and Ji.ii her of the deceased--
However, !he High Court held !hat !he rejection of the evidence was unjuslijied
B and perverse and convicted !he accused-Correctness of-Held: The evidence
of a witness cannot be discarded merely on the ground that he is either
partisan or interested or closely related lo the deceased, if ii is otherwise
found to be trustworlhy and credible-.// only requires scrutiny with more
care and caution-If the evidence is found to be reliable and probable, it can
be acted upon---Hence conviction justified.
c According to the prosecution, there were disputes between the families
of PW-2 and Accused No. I. In an earlier incident, accused-appellants Nos.
I, 2 and 3 came to the house of PW-2 and threatened him with dire
consequences. In the second incident, PW-2 and his son PW-I were attacked
by appellant-accused No. 3 and his father accused No. I. Within :ibout half an
D hour of the second incident, the deceased went towards the house of the accused
persons to question them about their high-handed acts.

It was the further case of the prosecution that accused Nos. t, 2 and 3
along with others came from their house armed with a stick and a Barisa.
Accused Nos. t and 2 caught hold of the deceased, who was unarmed, and
E accused No. 3 stabbed the deceased near his throat with the Barisa. The
deceased collapsed.

The trial court acquitted all the accused persons by extending them the
benefit of doubt. It held that the evidence of the two eye-witnesses (PW-I and
PW-2) is not trustworthy and could not be relied upon as they were close
F relatives of the deceased, having previous enmity and grudge against the
accused persons and who were interested in falsely implicating the accused.

The High Court allowed the appeal holding that rejection of the evidence
of PW-I and PW-2 by the trial court was unjustified and perverse.
G Accordingly, the High Court convicted the appellant-accused No. 3 under
Section 302 of the Penal Code, 1860. Hence the appeal.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court

HELD: I.I. It is now well-settled that the power of the High Court in an
H appeal from acquittal is no different from its power in an appeal from conviction.
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY"· ST ATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH 635

It can review and consider the entire evidence and come to its own conclusions A
by either accepting the evidence rejected by the trial court or rejecting the
evidence accepted by the trial court. However, if the High Court decided to
depart from the conclusions reached by the trial court, it should pay due
attention to the grounds on which acquittal was based and state the reasons
as to why it finds the conclusions leading to the acquittal unacceptable. It
should also bear in mind that (i) the presumption of innocence in favour of B
the accused is fortified by the findings of the trial court; (ii) the accused is
entitled to benefit of any doubt; and (iii) the trial court had the advantage of
examining the demeanour of the witnesses. The crux of the matter, however,
is whether the High court is able to give clear reasons to dispel the doubt
raised and reject the reasons given by the trial court. (643-F-G-H; 644-A) C
Sher Singh v. State of U.P., AIR (1967) SC 1412, Dargahs v. State of
U.P., AIR (1973) SC 2695, Ravinder Singh v. State of Haryana, AIR (1975)
SC 856 and Labh Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1976) SC 83, relied on.

1.2. In this case, the trial court had rejected the evidence of PW-I and D
PW-2 merely because they were interested witnesses being the brother and
father of the deceased. But it is well-settled that the evidence of a witness
cannot be discarded merely on the ground that he is either partisan or
interested or closely related to the deceased, if it is otherwise found to be
trustworthy and credible. It only requires scrutiny with more care and caution,
so that neither the guilty escapes nor the innocent wrongly convicted. If on E
such careful scrutiny, the evidence is found to be reliable and probable, it can
be acted upon. If it :s found to be improbable or suspicious, it ought to be
rejected. Where the witness has a motive to falsely implicate the accused, his
testimony should have corroboration in regard to material particulars before
it is accepted. 1644-B-C-D) F
Hari Obula Reddi v. State ofAndhra Pradesh, 11981) 3 SCC 675, Ashok
Kumar Pandey v. State of Delhi, 12002) 4 SCC 76 and Bijoy Singh v. State of
Bihar, 12002) 9 SCC 147, relied on.

2. I. The evidence shows that there was a long standing enmity between G
the families of the two brothers (A-1 and PW-2). Neither the deceased nor
PW-I and PW-2 were armed with any weapon. There was no indication that
they intended to cause any physical harm to the accused, or that they intended
to retaliate for an earlier incident. The nature and size of the weapon used by
the appellant (barisa, which is a big size ·dagger), the force with which the
weapon was used, the part of the body where the injury was caused - just below H
636 SUPREME COURl REPORTS (2006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A the neck, a vital part of the body, the nature of the injury - stab wound,
resulting in instantaneous collapse leading to death, leave no room to doubt
that the intention of the appellant was to cause the death or, at all events, cause
bodily injury, which is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause
death. (645-C-E-F(

B 2.2. It is not possible to accept the contention that whenever death is on
account of a single blow, the offence is one under Section 304 and not under
Section 302. (646-E)

Virsa Singh v. State ofPunjab, AIR (1958) SC 465, Gudar Dusdh v. State
of Bihar, AIR (1972) SC 952, Vasanta v. State of Maharashtra, (1984( Supp.
C SCC 648, Jai Prakash v. State (Delhi Administration), (1991) 2 SCC 32,
Jagrup Singh v. State of Haryana, AIR (1981) SC 1552 and State of Karnataka
v. Vedanayagam, (1995( 1 SCC 326, relied on.

laxman Kalu Nikalje v. State of Maharashtra, AIR (1968) SC 1390,
D Randhir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR (1982) SC 55, Tho/an v. State of 7'amil
Nadu, AIR (1984) SC 759 and Bagdiram v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2004(
12 sec 302, held inapplicable.

3. The Cour1 should proceed to decide the pivotal question of intention,
with care and caution, as that will decide whether the case falls under Section
E 302 or 304 Part I or 304 Part II. Many petty or insignificant matters - plucking
of a fruit, straying of cattle, quarrel of children, utterance of a rude word or
even an objectionable glance, may lead to altercations and group clashes
culminating in deaths. Usual motives like revenge, greed, jealousy or
suspicion may be totally absent in such cases. There may be no intention.
There may be no pre-meditation. In fact, there may not even be criminality. At
F the other end of the spectrum, there may be cases of murder where the
accused attempts to avoid the penalty for murder by attempting to put forth a
case that there was no intention to cause death. It is for the courts to ensure
that the cases of murder punishable under Section 302 are not converted into
offences punishable under Section 304 Part UH, or cases of culpable homicide
G not amounting to murder are treated as murder punishable under Section
302. The intention to cause death can be gathered generally from a combination
of a few or several of the following, among other, circumstances; (i) nature of
the weapon used; (ii) whether the weapon was carried by the accused or was
picked up from the spot; (iii) whether the blow is aimed at a vital part of the
body; (iv) the amount of force employed in causing injury; (v) whether the act
H
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY "· ST ATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH [RA VEENDRAN. J.] 63 7

was in the course of a sudden quarrel or sudden fight or free for all fight; (vi) A
whether the incident occurs by chance or whether there was any pre-
meditation; (vii) whether there was any prior enmity or whether the deceased
was a stranger; (viii) whether there was any grave and sudden provocation,
and if so, the cause for such provocation; (ix) whether it was in the heat of
passion; (x) whether the person inflicting the injury has taken undue B
advantage or has acted in a cruel and unusual manner; (xi) whether the
accused dealt a single blow or several blows. The above list of circumstances
is, of course, not exhaustive and there may be several other special
circumstances with reference to individual cases which may throw light on
the question of intention. (649-D, E, F, G, H; 650-A-B)

4.1. In this case the appellant was carrying a Barisa, a dangerous
c
weapon. There was previous enmity. There was an earlier incident, about half
an hour earlier when the father and brother of the deceased had been attacked
by the appellant and his father. The deceased was unarmed. There was no
provocation, sudden quarrel or fight. There was no indication of any cause
for an apprehension on the part of the appellant that the deceased may attack D
him. The stabbing was with great force, causing an injury on a vital part of
the body, sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. [65-C-D]

4.2. The intention to cause death or, at all events, the intention of causing
bodily injury which is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause
death was made out. The circumstances to bring the case under Exception (4) E
to Section 300 do not exist. [650-F)

CRJMINAL APPELLATE JURJSDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 945 of
2004.

From the Judgment and Order dated 28.8.2003 of the High Court of F
Andhra Pradesh at Hyderabad in Criminal Appeal No. 1211 of2001.

A.T.M. Rangaramanujan, Gouri Kamna Das, Anu Gupta, Rajesh Singh,
K. Uma Shanker and Rani Jethmalani for the Appellant.

D. Bharathi Reddy for the Respondent. G

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

RA VE END RAN, J. This appeal by special leave is against the judgment
dated 28.8.2003 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Criminal Appeal No.1211
of 200 I reversing the judgment of acquittal dated 7 .2.2000 passed by the First H
638 SliPREME cmr1n RLPORI S [2U06J SUPP. -l S.C.R.

A Addi. Sessions Judge, Chittoor in S.C. No.361 of l 999.

2. The prosecution cast\ in briet: is as under :

(2. l .) P. Narasimha R.:dd) (Pl/v-2) and P. Govinda Reddy (Accused No.1)
are brothers. I'. Dilli Babu R~ddy (PW- l) and Purushotham Reddy (deceased)
B are the sons of Narasimha Reddy. Ranamma (Accused No.2) is the wifo of
Govinda Reddy. Nagaraja Reddy (A~cused No.>). Balakrishm1 Reddy :I( 'Balu'
and Chandrababu Reddy a ·Babu· an: the suns of Gov inda Reddy and
Ranamma. (Balu and Babu were juveniles at the rekvant time). Both families
were residents of Bangarcddipalli Diguva Indlu. a hamlet falling under the
C Gangadhara Nellore Pancha)at in Chittoor District. The house of Narasimha
Reddy and house of Govinda Reddy were separated by the land of Chinnakka.

(2.2) Narasimha Reddy. after his marriage, having differences with his
parents had shifted to his father-in-law's place and then to Madras. Ultimatdy,
he came back to his native village. In the meanwhile. Govinda Reddy and two
D other brothers namely Krishna Reddy a:id Venkateswarulu Reddy had
continued to live with their father Bakk; Reddy. Bakki Reddy and
Venkateswarulu Reddy had died and Krishna Rt:ddy was residing in a different
town. Govinda Reddy was in possession and enjoyment of the family
properties. There were disputes between the families ofNarasimha Reddy and
Govinda Reddy in regard to property.
E
(2.3) On 24.4.1999, Narasimha Reddy (PW-2) brought some plastic pipes
to his house in a hired tractor. Accused I. 2 and 3 ((iovinda Reddy, his wife
and sor. Nagaraja Reddy) came to the house of Narasimha Reddy and raised
a quarrel stating that the tractor unauthorizedly passed through their land and
threatened Narasimha Reddy with dire consequences. This was the first
F incident.

(2.4) On 25.4.1999 at about 6 p.m .. (luvinda Reddy with his wife (A2) and
sons (A3 and two juveniles) removed a part of the fence surrounding Narasimha
Reddy's property. When Narasimha Reddy and his 'on IJilli Babu Reddy
G rushed to the place and questioned why they were removing the fence.
Accused I. 2 and 3 started abusing them. Gov inda Reddy (A I) exhorted his
wife and sons to kill Narasimha Reddy and Dilli Babu R~ddy. Nagaraja Reddy
(A-3) dealt a blow on the right side of Dilli Babu Reddy's head with the upper
side of a 'Barisa' (a long dagger with a long handle). Then. Guvinda Reddy
(A 1) dealt a blow on the right middle finger ofNarasimha !{eddy with a sickle.
H Both Narasimha and !Jilli Babu Reddy sustained bleeding injuries. The
PUL\CHERLA NAGARJUU@ NAGARAJA REDDY 1·. STATE Of ANDHRA PRADESH (RAVEENDRAN, J.] 63 9

neighbouring land owners and others working in the adjoining fields rushed A
and separated the two groups. This was the second incident.

(2.5) Within about half an hour of the second incident, Purushotham
Reddy (first son of Narasimha Reddy) returned home. Narasimha Reddy and
Dilli Babu Reddy narrated to him what had happened. Immediately, Purushotham
Reddy, followed by his father (PW-2) and brother (PW-1), went towards the B
house of Govinda Reddy to question them about their high-handed acts.
When Purushotham Reddy entered the land Chinnaka which was situated
between the lands (houses) of the two brothers, accused I, 2, & 3 (Govinda
Reddy, Ranamma and Nagaraja Reddy) along with two juvenile sons of
Accused No. I (Batu and Babu) came from their house. Govinda Reddy was C
armed with a stick with nails, Ranamma was armed with stout stick, Nagaraja
was armed with a Barisa. Govinda Reddy exhorted his wife and sons to kill
Purushotham Reddy. Balu and Babu threw mud balls at Narasimha Reddy and
Dilli Babu Reddy, who were following Purushotham Reddy. Govinda Reddy
and Ranamma caught hold of Purushotham Reddy and Nagaraja (A-3) stabbed
Purushotham Reddy near his throat with the Barisa. Purushotham Reddy D
collapsed. Govinda Reddy and his wife and children ran away. This was the
third incident. It occurred around 7.30 P.M. This incident was witnessed by
Gurava Reddy (PW-3), Gungulu Reddy (PW-4), Perumal's son Dilli Babu (PW-
5) and P. Ravi (PW-6) and Sarojamma. But they did not interfere.

(2.6) Thereafter, Di Iii Babu Reddy (PW- I) got a complaint (Ex.P-1) written E
and presented it at the Gangadhara Nellore Police Station (which was at a
distance of about 4 km. from the place of incident) around 9.00 P.M. The
police sent Narasimha Reddy and Dilli Babu Reddy for treatment to Primary
Health Centre for examination and treatment
F
3. T. Sundaramurthy, Sub-Inspector ofGangadhara Nellore Police Station
(PW-15), received the complaint and registered the case in Crime No.35 of
1999 under sections 147, 148, 307 and 302 read with section 149 IPC, prepared
the FIR and recorded the statements of PW-I and PW-2. He also seized the
blood-stained clothes of PW-I from him under a Mahazarnama. The next day,
K. Srinivasa Gopal, Inspector of Police, Chittoor Rural Circle (PW-16), took up G
the investigation and recorded the statements of some other witnesses. On
26.4.1999, at about 9.00 A.M., inquest was conducted over the dead-body and
it was sent for autopsy. He arrested accused I & 2 as also their juvenile sons
Balu and Babu on 28.4.1999 at about 3 p.m. in the presence of PW-9 (Pancha)
and recorded their confession statements and on the same day at 6.00 P.M. H
640 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A in pursuance of the information, disclosed in the confession statement of
Govinda Reddy, recovered the Barisa (MO. I) from a sugarcane garden shown
by Govinda Reddy. PW-16 also arrested Nagaraja Reddy (A-3) on 1.5.1999
around 9 A.M. in the presence of Panchas (PW-10 and another). Nagaraja
Reddy made a confession statement (Ex. P-25) and took them to the house
B of one Subha Reddy and produced a blood-stained shirt (M0-8).

4. The IV Additional Judicial Magistrate, First Class, took the case on
file and committed accused I, 2, & 3 to the Court of Sessions, Chittoor. Balu
and Babu, the juvenile sons of accused No. I were subjected to a separate
proceeding before the Juvenile Court. In the Sessions trial, the prosecution
C examined 15 witnesses. Dilli Babu Reddy and his father Narasimha Reddy
(PW- I & PW-2) were the injured eye-witnesses. PW-3 to PW-6 who were
examined as eye-witnesses turned hostile and stated that they did not know
anything about the incident. PW-11 (Dr. S.Narasimhulu) examined Dilli Babu
Reddy (PW-I) and Narasimha Reddy (PW-2) at the Primary Health Centre and
issued certificates in regard to their injuries as per Ex.P-13 and P-14. Dr.
D P.Venkataswamy (PW-12), Civil Assistant Surgeon, Government Head-Quarters
Hospital, Chittoor, conducted the post-mortem over the dead-body of
Purushotham Reddy and issued a post-mortem certificate as per Ex.P-15. PW-
15 and PW-16 were the Police Officers. PW-7 to PW-10, PW-13 and PW-14
were the witnesses to the inquest, and the Mahazars relating to arrest and
E seizure. PWs.7, 9, 13 and 14 turned hostile.

5. On considering the evidence, the trial court by judgment dated
7.2.2000 acquitted all the accused by extending them the benefit of doubt. It
held that the evidence was not trustworthy for the following reasons :

(a) All the four independent eye-witnesses (PW-3, 4, 5 & 6) turned
F hostile and denied knowledge of the incident.
(b) Four out of the six Mahazar witnesses (PWs. 7, 9, 13, and 14) also
turned hostile and did not support the case of the prosecution.
(c) The evidence of the two eye-witnesses (PW-I and PW-2) could
G not be relied on as they were close relatives of the deceased,
having previous enmity and grudge against the accused and who
were interested in falsely implicating the accused. Their evidence
was also inconsistent with the allegations in the complaint (Ex.
Pl) lodged by PW-I.

H 6. The said judgment was challenged by the State. The State's appeal
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY v. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH [RA VEENDRAN, J] 64 j

was allowed by the High Court. It held that the rejection of the evidence of A
PW-I and PW-2 by the trial court was unjustified and perverse, for the
following reasons :

(a) The evidence of PWs. l and 2, who were eye-witnesses, could
not be rejected merely on the ground that they were interested
or partisan, as their evidence was otherwise found to be credible. B
(b) The second incident which occurred at <.bout 6.00 to 7.00 P.M.
wherein PW-I and PW-2 were attacked and injured and the third
incident within about half an hour thereof when Purushotham
Reddy was killed should be considered as having occurred during
the course of the same transaction in the sense that the latter C
incident was a continuation and consequence of the earlier
incident. Therefore, PW! and PW2 were in the position of injured
eye-witnesses and not chance witnesses. Their presence at the
time and place of the incident was natural and properly explained.
(c) Nothing was elicited in the cross-examination of PW-I and PW- D
2 to disbelieve their evidence about the incidents, in particular
the manner in which they were attacked and injured by accused
l and 3 and the manner in which Purushottam Reddy was killed
by Nagaraja Reddy (A-3).
(d) Though the incide1;t took place at 7.30 P.M. and there were no E
light, the evidence of PWs. l and 2 that could see the accused
clearly in the moonlight ought to be accepted. Being close relatives,
they had no difficulty in identifying the accused particularly as
the accused had chased them to some distance after killing the
deceased.
F
(e) There was no inconsistency between the testimony of PWs.l
and 2 and the allegations in the complaint. (Ex. Pl).
(f) The evidence of PW-! and PW-2 established that A-1 to A-3
caught the deceased and A-3 stabbed him near the throat with
MO! - Barisa (long dagger). The medical evidence corroborated G
that the injury was caused of a weapon like MOL The blood-
stained shirt of A-3 (MOS) was found and seized in pursuance
of the confession statement made by A-3 on his arrest before the
Investigating Officer which was corroborated by the evidence of
PW-10.
H
642 SUPRE\>IE COURT REPOR rs /2006J SLPP. 4 S.C.R.

A 7. The High Court held that the evidence ot PW-2 showi:d that A-I and
A-2 were not anned with any weapons when the deceased was attacked and
that they (A- I and A-2) did not cause or attempt to cause any injury to the
deceased. It concluded that the killing of Purushotham Reddy was not on
account of any pre-planned attack by accused I to 3 and that it appeared that
A-3 had attacked the deceased thinking that the deceased was coming to
B attack him. The High Court also observed that if A-1 and A-2 had wanted to
kill the deceased, they would have also attacked the deceased, but they did
not do so, and that therefore, A-1 and A-2 did not share any common
intention with A-3. As a consequence, the High Court held that the charge
under section 302 was proved against A-3 and that the charge under section
C 302 read with section 34 IPC was not proved against A 1 and A2. The High
Court also did not accept that A-1 and his family members constituted an
unlawful assembly and therefore, charge under section 148 IPC was also not
established. In regard to the injuries caused to PW-1 and PW-2, the High
Court held that the prosecution had failed to prow the case against A-2
(Ranamma) but had proved its case against A- 1 and A-3 under section 324
D IPC. Having regard to the overall circumstances and the simple nature of
injuries, the High Court was of the view that the imposition of a fine in that
behalf would meet the ends of JUStice.

8. Accordingly, the High Court convicted A-3 under section 302 IPC and
E sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/
-. It convicted A- I and A-3 under section 324 !PC for causing injuries to PW-
! and PW-2 and sentenced each of them to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- and in
default, to undergo simpk imprisonment of six months.

9. The said judgment of the High Court reversing the acquittal by the
F trial court is challenged by A-3 in this appeal by special leave. The learned
counsel for the appellant urged the following contentions before us :

(a) The High Court should not have interfered with the judgment of
acquittal by the Sessions Court merdy because another view was
possible on re-appreciation of the evidence. High Court wrongly
G relied on the evidence of PW-I and PW-2 who were partisan
witnesses int.:rcsted in falsely implicating the accused.
(b) The evidence of PW-I and PW-:! were incon$istent with the
allegations in the FIR based on the complaint (h. Pl) given by
PW-I within one and half hours of the incident. In Ex.P-1, it was
H stated that five members, that is Govinda Reddy, Ranamma,
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@NAGARAJA REDDY"· STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH [RA VEENDRAN. J ] 64J

Nagaraja Reddy, Balu and Babu attacked Purushotham Reddy A
with sticks, knives and daggers, and Nagaraja Reddy murdered
Purushotham Reddy by stabbing him with a dagger on his throat.
If the five of them had really attacked Purushotham Reddy with
sticks, knives and daggers, there should be corresponding injuries
on the body of the deceased. But the post-mortem report and the B
evidence of Dr. Yenkataswamy (PW-12) show that the deceased
had sustained only one incised injury over the right clavicle. The
Doctor (PW-12) clearly stated that except the said injury, he did

.. not find any injury on any other part of the body of the deceased .
When there was only one injury which corresponded to the
dagger attack by Nagaraja Reddy, the allegation in the complaint C
that Govinda Reddy, Ranamma, Nagaraja Reddy, Balu and Babu
together attacked the deceased with sticks, knives and daggers
is obviously false. This demonstrated that PW- I had tried to
falsely implicate the entire family ofGovinda Reddy (five members)
on account of the previous enmity between the two families. The
case of the prosecution based on the said complaint was therefore D
liable to be rejected.
(c) At all events, as the High Court having recorded a finding that
"It is not a case of pre-planned attack by the accused. It appears
that the thinking that the deceased was coming to attack in, A-
3 attacked him", ought to have held that the act was a culpable E
homicide not amounting to murder punishable under section 304
Part II IPC.

Re : Contention (i) :

.IO. It is now well settled that the power of the High Court in an appeal F
from acquittal is no different from its power in an appeal from conviction. It
can review and consider the entire evidence and come to its own conclusions
by either accepting the evidence rejected by the trial court or rejecting the
evidence accepted by the trial court. However, if the High Court decided to
depart from the conclusions reached by the trial court, it should pay due G
attention to the grounds on which acquittal was based and state the reasons
as to why it finds the conclusions leading to the acquittal, unacceptable. It
should also bear in mind that (i) the presumption of innocence in favour of

.. the accused is fortified by the findings of the trial court; (ii) the accused is
entitled to benefit of any doubt; and (iii) the trial court had the advantage of
H
644 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A examining the demeanour of the witnesses. The crux of the matter, however,
is whether the High Court is able to give clear reasons to dispel the doubt
raised, and reject the reasons given by the trial court [See : Sher Singh v.
State of U.P., AIR (1967) SC 1412; Dargahs v. State of U.P .. AIR (1973) SC
2695; Ravinder Singh v. State of Haryana, AIR (1975) SC 856 and labh Singh
v. State of Punjab, AIR (1976) SC 83].
-
B
11. In this case, we find that the trial court had rejected the evidence
of PW-I and PW-2 merely because they were interested witnesses being the
brother and father of the deceased. But it is well settled that evidence of a
witness cannot be discarded merely on the ground that he is either partisan .-
c or interested or closely related to the deceased, if it is otherwise found to be
trustworthy and credible. It only requires scrutiny with more care and caution,
so that neither the guilty escape nor the innocent wrongly convicted. If on
such careful scrutiny, tht.' evidence is found to be reliable and probable, it can
be acted upon. If it is found to be improbable or suspicious, it ought to be
rejected. Where the witness has a motive to falsely implicate the accused, his
D testimony should have corroboration in regard to material particulars before
it is accepted. [vide Hari Obula Reddi v. State of Andhra Pradesh, [1981) 3
SCC 675, Ashok Kumar Pandey v. State of Delhi, [2002] 4 SCC 76 and Bijoy
Singh v. State ofBihar, (2002) 9 SCC 147]. Nothing had been elicited in the
cross-examination of PW-I and PW-2 to discredit their evidence. Their evidence
finds corroboration in Ex.P-1 and the evidence of the Doctors (PW-I I and
E
PW-12) and the MOs seized on the disclosures made by A-I and A-3.
Therefore, the High Court rightly held that the evidence of PW-I and 2 could
not be rejected, even though they were closely related to the deceased and
inimically disposed towards the accused. There is no infirmity in the decision
of the High Court by re-appreciating the evidence and reaching independent
F conclusions.

Re : Contention (ii) :

12. This contention is based on the assumption that in his complaint
(Ex.P-1 ), PW-I had stated that accused No. I and his four family members
G attacked the deceased with sticks, knives and daggers. The learned counsel
for the State submitted that the words 'attacked with sticks, knives and
daggers' in the English translation of Ex.Pl is incorrect and that the complaint
(Ex.PI) in Telugu uses the word 'dourjanyam' which is wrongly translated as

H
'attacked'. The use of the word 'dourjanyam' in the complaint does not refer
to physical assault but action which is intended to intimidate, threaten and
-
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY"· STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH [RA VEENDRAN, J.] 645

frighten anyone. We are, therefore, satisfied that the complaint does not A
allege that Govinda Reddy, his wife and three childre'.1 physically assaulted
the deceased with sticks, knives and daggers, but only alleges that accused
and his family members approached the deceased Purushotham Reddy with
sticks, knives and daggers in an intimidating and threatening manner.
Therefore, the absence of any other injury except the dagger injury caused
by Nagaraja Reddy (A-3) is consistent with allegations in Ex. P-1. B

Re : Contention No. (iii)

13. The third contention relates to the question whether the offence is
a murder punishable under Section 302, or culpable homicide not amounting
to murder, punishable under Section 304 Part II. The evidence shows that C
there was a long standing enmity between the families of the two brothers
(A-1 and PW-2). There was a quarrel on 24.4.1999 in respect of PW-2 taking
a tractor through the land of A-1. There was another quarrel when A-I
allegedly removed the fence and PW-I and PW-I questioned A-I as to why
he removed fencing, which led to an altercation between A-1 and A-3 on the D
one hand and PW-I and PW-2 on the other about half an hour before the
stabbing of the deceased, which resulted in injuries to PW-I and PW-2. After
the second incident, Purushotham Reddy followed by PW-I and PW-2 was
going towards A-1 's house to protest against A-I and the appellant causing
injuries to PW-I and PW-2. Neither Purushottam Reddy nor PW-I and PW-
2 were armed with any weapon. There was no indication that they intended E·
to cause any physical harm to the accused, or that they intended to retaliate
for the earlier incident. The nature and size of the weapon used by the
appellant (barisa, which is a big size dagger), the force with which the weapon
was used, the part of the body where the injury was caused - just below the
neck, a vital part of the body, the nature of the injury - stab wound measuring F
3 cm x 5 cm x 12 cm, resulting in instantaneous collapse leading to death, leave
no room to doubt that the intention of the appellant was to cause the death
or, at all events, cause bodily injury, which is sufficient in the ordinary course
of nature to cause death.

14. It is true that the High Court disbelieved the prosecution case that G
A2 (mother of appellant) or the two juvenile brothers of the appellant had
participated in either of the incidents, though their presence was not ruled
out. But that will not assist the appellant to contend that he was not guilty.
Considerable reliance was placed by the learned counsel for the appellant on
the observation of the High Court that the deceased was stabbed by the
H
646 Sl PRE~IF crn:R1 REPORTS 12006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A appellant. not in pursuance of any pre-planned attack. but being under the
impression that the deceased was coming to attack him. But this observation
was made in the context of recording a finding that A-I and A-2 did not share
any common intention with the appellant. The said observation cannot be
read out of context to make out a case that the appellant acted in self defonce.
Such a plea is neither put forth in the statement under Section 313 nor
B brought out in the cross examination of any of the prosecution witnesses.

IS. Learned counsd for the appellant referred to the circumstance that
there was only one stab injury on the deceased, to contend that there was
no pre-meditation and the attack was 'in a ;udden fight in the heat of
C passion'. and that the appellant had not acted in a cruel or unusual manner
or taken undue advantage of the ;ituation. He submitted that the High Court
ought to have given b~ndit of Fxception 4 to Section 300 to appellant and
held him guilty under Section 104 Part I I. He rdied on the decisions of this
Court in Laxman Kalu .Vika/je v. State u/Mahurashtra, AIR (1968) SC 1390,
Randhir Singh v. State of Pun/ah, AIR ( l 982) SC 55, Tho/an v. State of Tamil
D Na du, AIR ( 1984) SC 759 and Bagdiram v. Stale of Madhya Pradesh. [2004 J
12 sec 302 in support of his contention.

16. We cannot accept the contention that whenever the death is on
account of a single blow. the offence is one under Section 304 and not Section
302. We will briefly rt:fcr to the cases relied on by the appellant.
E
( 16.1) In l.axman Kalu .Vika/jl! (supra), the accused had gone to his
father-in-law's house to take his wife back to his house. His father-in-law
delayed the departun: of his wife by a day. The delay upset the accused and
he was in a foul mood. When his brother-m-law made some remark, he
responded by whipping out his knife and giving a blow on the chest of his
F brother-in-law. His brother-in-law died a few hours later. This Court held that
the case fell under the second part of Section 304 as the accused gave only
one blow and it was not on a vital part of the chest and but for the fact that
injury caused scver~d an artery, death would not have ensut:d.

G (16.2) In Randhir Singh (supra), that there was an altercation between
the deceased and father of the accused. At that time, on the exhortation of
his father, the accused, a young college student, gave a blow on the head
of the deceased with a Kassi. The solitary injury caused by the accused was

-
sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death and the deceased
died after six days. Taking note of the circumstanct:s, that the accused was
H
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY"· ST ATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH [RA VEENDRAN.JJ 64 7

not carrying the weapon in advance, there was no pre-meditation, that he was A
a young college boy, that there was some altercation between father of the
accused and deceased, and that the death occurred after six days, the
conviction was altered from Section 302 to 304 Part IL

(16.3) In Tho/an (supra), the accused stood in front of the house of the
deceased and used filthy language against some persons (who were B
unconnected with the deceased). The deceased came out of his house and
told the accused that he should not use vulgar and filthy language in front
of ladies and asked him to go away. The accused questioned the authority
of the deceased to ask him to leave the place. In the ensuing altercation, the
accused gave one blow with a knife which landed on the (right) chest of the C
deceased which proved to be fatal. This Court came to the conclusion that
the accused could not be convicted under Section 302, but was guilty under
Section 304 Part II. The circumstances which weighed with this Court were
: (i) there was no connection between the accused and the dec~ased and the
presence of the deceased at the time of the incident, was wholly accidental;
(ii) altercation with the deceased was on the spur of the moment and the D
accused gave a single blow being enraged by the deceased asking him to
leave the place (iii) requisite intention could not be attributed to the accused
as there was nothing to show that the accused intended the blow to land on
the right side of the chest which proved to be fatal.

·- (16.4) In Bagdiram (supra), there was an altercation between two groups E
and brick-batting from both sides. When tempers were running high, in the
heat of passion, upon sudden quarrel without any pre-meditation, the accused
assaulted the unarmed deceased. The accused-appellant was not carrying any
weapon, but he picked up a pick axe lying at the place of incident and he
landed only one blow and did not repeat the blow. In these circumstances, F
it was held that he did not intend to cause the death of the deceased and
that the appellant was guilty under Section 304 Part I !PC.

I 7. It would thus be seen that in all these cases, the accused landing
a single blow was only one of the several circumstances which persuaded this
Court to hold that the offence did not fall under Section 302 but fell under G
Section 304 Part I or Part II. The fact that the accused gave only one blow,
by itself, would not mitigate the offence to one of culpable homicide not
amounting to murder. There are several cases where single blow inflicted by
the accused, resulting in death have been found to be sufficient for conviction
under Section 302. We may refer to a few of them, namely, Virsa Singh v. State
H
648 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A of Pzmjab, AIR ( 1958) SC 465, Gudar Dusadh v. State of Bihar, AIR (1972)
SC 952, Vasanta v. State ofMaharashtra, [ 1984] Supp. SCC 648, Jai Prakash
v. State (Delhi Administration}, (1991] 2 SCC 32 and State of Karnataka v.
Vedanayagam, (1995] I SCC 326].

( 17.1) In Virsa Singh (supra), this Court held that a culpable homicide
B is a murder under Section 300 clause Thirdly, if the prosecution should
establish four elements - (i) the presence of a bodily injury, (ii) nature of such
bodily injury, (iii) intention on the part of the accused to inflict that particular
bodily injury, that is to say, that it was not accidental or unintentional, or that
some other kind of injury was intended; and (iv) the injury was sufficient to
C cause death in the ordinary course of nature (this part of enquiry being purely
objective and inferential, nothing to do with the intention of the offender).
Dealing with the question, as to how intention is to be inferred, Vivian Bose,
J. succinctly stated :

''In considering whether the intention was to inflict the injury found
to have been inflicted, the enquiry necessarily proceeds on broad
D
lines as, for example, whether there was an intention to strike at a vital
or a dangerous spot, and whether with sufficient force to cause the
kind of injury found to have been inflicted x x x x The question is not
whether the prisoner intended to inflict a serious injury or a trivial one
but whether he intended to inflict the injury that is proved to be
E present. If he can show that he did not, or if the totality of the
circumstances justify such an inference, then, of course, the intent
that the section requires is not proved. But if there is nothing beyond
the injury and the fact that the appellant inflicted it, the only possible
inference is that he intended to inflict it. Whether he knew of its
seriousness, or intended some consequences, is neither here nor
F
there. The question, so far as the intention is concerned, is not
whether he intended to kill, or to inflict an injury of a particular degree
of serious;iess, but whether he intended to inflict the injury in question;
and once the existence of the injury is proved the intention to cause
it will be presumed unless the evidence or the circumstances warrant
G an opposite conclusion. But whether the intention is there or not is
one of fact and not one of law. Whether the wound is serious or
otherwise, and if serious, how serious, is a totally separate and distinct
question and has nothing to do with the question whether the prisoner
intended to inflict the injury in question .... "

H
PULICHERLA NAGARAJU@ NAGARAJA REDDY'· STATE OF ANDHRA PRADES'H [RA VEENDRANJJ 649

(17.2) The following legal position regarding single blow injury, was A
summed up in Jagrup Singh v. The State ofHaryana, AIR (1981) SC 1552 thus

"There is no justification for the assertion that the giving of a solitary
blow on a vital part of the body resulting the death must always
necessarily reduce the offence to culpable homicide not amounting to
murder punishable under section 304, Part II of the Code. If a man B
deliberately strikes another on the head with a heavy log of wood or
an iron rod or even a lathi so as to cause a fracture of the skull, he
must, in the absence of any circumstances negativing the presumption,
be deemed to have intended to cause the death of the victim or such
bodily injury as is sufficient to cause death. The whole thing depends
upon the intention to cause death, and the case may be covered by C
either clause Firstly or clause Thirdly. The nature of intention must be
gathered from the kind of weapon used, the part of the body hit, the
amount of force employed and the circumstances attendant upon the
death."

18. Therefore, the court should proceed to decide the pivotal question D
of intention, with care and caution, as that will decide whether the case falls
under Section 302 or 304 Part I or 304 Part II. Many petty or insignificant
matters - plucking of a fruit, straying of a cattle, quarrel of children, utterance
of a rude word or even an objectionable glance, may lead to altercations and
group clashes culminating in deaths. Usual motives like revenge, greed, E
jealousy or suspicion may be totally absent in such cases. There may be no
intention. There may be no pre-meditation. In fact, there may not even be
criminality. At the other end of the spectrum, there may be cases of murder
where the accused attempts to avoid the penalty for murder by attempting to
put frirth a case that there was no intention to cause death. It is for the courts
to ensure that the cases of murder punishable under section 302, are not F
converted into offences punishable under section 304 Part I/II, or cases of
culpable homicide not amounting to murder, are treated as murder punishable
under section 302. The intention to cause death can be gathered generally
from a combination of a few or several of the following, among other,
circumstances : (i) nature of the weapon used; (ii) whether the weapon was G
carried by the accused or was picked up from the spot; (iii) whether the blow
is aimed at a vital part of the body; (iv) the amount of force employed in
causing injury; (v) whether the act was in the course of sudden quarrel or
sudden fight or free for all fight; (vi) whether the incident occurs by chance
or whether there was any pre-meditation; (vii) whether there was any prior
H
650 Sl!PRE\'IE COURT REPOR rs 12006) SUPP. 4 S.C.R.

A enmity or whether the deceased was a stranger: (viii) whether there was any
grave and sudden provocation. and if so, the cause for such provocation; (ix)
whether it was in the heat of passion; (x) whether the person inflicting the
injury has taken undue advdntage or has acted in a cruel and unusual manner:
(xi) whether the accused dealt a single blow or several blov.s. The above list
of circumstances is, of course, not exhaustive and there may be several other
B special circumstances with rdercnce to individual cases which may throw
light on the question of intention. Be that as 1t may.

19. In this case, as noticed above, the appellant was carrying a Barisa,
a dangerous weapon. There was previous enmity There was an earlier incident,
C about half an hour earliec when the father and brother of the deceased had
been attacked by the appellant and his father. The deceased was unarmed.
There was no provocation, sudden quarrel or fight There was no indication
of any cause for an apprehension on the part of the appellant that the
deceased may attack him. The stabbing was with great force, causing an
injury on a vital part of body, sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to
D cause death. The description of the injury and cause for death given by PW-
11, who conducted !ht: post mor:.:m is telling :

"An incised injury 5 cm x 3 cm x 12 cm dt:ep over right supra clavicular
fossa above the medial end of right clavicle .. sub-clavian artery is
severed ..... An incised injury 4cm x Icm x 2cm deep ovi:r the apex of
E right lung ...... deceased would appear to have died due to haemorrhage
and shock due to injuries to right sub-clavian artery and upper lobe
of right lung."

The intention to cause death or at all events intention of causing bodily injury
which is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death was made
F out The circumstances to bring the case under Exception (4) to Section 300
do not exist

20. We accordingly find no reason to interfere with the decision of the
High Court convicting the appellant. The appeal is dismissed.

G v.s.s. Appeal dismissed.

•