Holding

The Court held that there was no unreasonable delay, the medical evidence was consistent, and the facts did not meet the requirements of Exception 4 of Section 300, thus the appropriate conviction is under Section 304 Part II IPC.

Summary

Ravi Kumar was accused of killing Hans Raj with a dhangu during a quarrel that escalated into a physical fight. The trial court convicted him under Section 302 IPC for murder and the High Court affirmed the conviction. On appeal, the appellant contended that there was unreasonable delay in lodging the FIR and sending the special report, that the incised wound could not have been caused by the dhangu, and that Exception 4 of Section 300 IPC (sudden fight) should apply to reduce the charge. The Supreme Court held that the FIR and special report were filed without unreasonable delay, that medical testimony showed the dhangu could cause the wound, and that the facts did not satisfy the criteria of a "sudden fight" because the accused took undue advantage and acted in a cruel manner. Accordingly, the conviction was reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II IPC with an eight‑year sentence. The appeal was allowed in part.

Issues considered

The propriety of the delay in lodging the FIR and forwarding the special report to the Illaqa Magistrate
The consistency of the medical evidence (incised wound) with the weapon used (dhangu)
The applicability of Exception 4 of Section 300 IPC (sudden fight) to the facts
The correct conviction: murder under Section 302 IPC versus culpable homicide under Section 304 Part II IPC

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 154, s. 157
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 300(4), s. 302, s. 304(II)

Subjects

murderculpable homicideSection 300 Exception 4FIR delaymedical evidencesudden fightIndian Penal CodeCriminal Procedure Code

Judgment

A
RAVI KUMAR
v.
STATE OF PUNJAB

M.ARCH 4, 2005
B
[ARIJIT PASA YAT AND S.H. KAPADIA, JJ.]

Penal code:

C Section 300, Exception 4-Applicability of-Sudden fight between the
accused and deceased-Blow on head resulting in death of deceased-Trial '-
I
court and High Court convicting accused under Section 302 /PC-Accused
pleading applicability of Exception 4 of Section 300--Held: Trial Court and
High Court not justified in convicting accused under Section 302-Exception
4 of Section 300 is applicable as accused had not taken undue advantage or
D acted in cruel or unusual manner-Fight suddenly took place for which both
parties were equally to be blamed as there was mutua{ provocation and
aggravation and no previous deliberation or .determination to fight.

Section 300, Exception 4-Acts done in sudden fight-Word 'fight' not
E defined in /PC-What amounts to sudden fight is a question offact-Whether
a fight is sudden or not must necessarily depend upon the proved facts ofeach
case.

Section 300, Exception I and 4-Comparison and distinction between-
Explained.
F t
Criminal Procedure Code :
r
Sections I 54, I 57-FIR and Illaqa report to Magistrate-Deloy in lodging
and reporting-Held, not fatal if delay not unreasonable and duly explained- L
I
Criminal trial.
G
Section 154-First Information Report-Meaning and Significance of-
Discussed.

Section 157-Illaqa Report-Purpose of-Discussed.

H 548
RA VI KUMAR v. ST ATE OF PUNJAB 549

Criminal trial : A
Owlar evidence vis-a-vis Medical evidence-EvidentiGJy value of-Held
: where ocular evidence is cogent and credible, medical evidence to the contrmy
not to corrode its evidentiGJy value-Evidence.

Words and phrases-Fight and sudden fight-Meaning of-In the context B
of Exception 4 of Section 300 !PC.

Acco"rding to prosecution, quarrel took place between the deceased
and the appellant-accused. Next day employer of the appellant called
deceased to settle the dispute. When talks were going on, quarrel between
·- appellant and deceased ensued. Appellant picked up dhangu and gave two C
blows on the head of the deceased and he fell down .. He was taken to
hospital where he was referred to another hospital. After few hours, he
died. After the death of deceased, his brother PW-3 lodged FIR. Appellant
was arrested. On disclosure statement, dhangu was recovered. Trial Court
convicted appellant under Section 302 IPC. High Court dismissed the · D
appeal.

In appeal to this Court, appellant contended that there was
inordinate delay in lodging the FIR and sending the special report to the
lllaqa Magistrate; that an incised wound found on head of deceased was
not possible with the weapon i.e. dhangu which was alleged to have been E
used and in the alternate, Section 302 is not applicable as the assaults took
place in the course of quarrel and Exception 4 of Section 300 IPC would
apply.

Partly allowing the appeal, the Court
F
HELD : 1.1. The evidence on record shows that in the occurrence,
the deceased was seriously injured. Therefore, the first priority of his
brothers was to provide immediate medical aid so that his life could be
saved. He was immediately taken to the Civil Hospital. There the doctor
after examining him found the condition to be serious and referred him
to the PGI at Chandigarh where he ultimately died. After his death, PW- G
3 lodged first information report at the police station. The distance between
the hospital and the Police Station was few kilometers. The special report
was received by the lllaqa Magistrate shortly after mid-night. The
sequence of events shows that there was no unreasonable delay in lodging
the FIR as the first effort of his brothers was to take the deceased to H
,_
'
550 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R. '\

A different hospitals for medical aid. Similarly, there is no unexplained delay
in sending the special report to special magistrate, as the distance between I
the Police Station and the place where the lllaqa Magistrate was stationed r
was not small. The trial court and the High Court, therefore, rightly held
tbat there was no delay in either lodging the FIR or sending the special
B report to the lllaqa Magistrate. (554-A-E; 555-81

Ram Jag and Ors. v. The State of UP., AIR (1974) SC 606; Pala Singh
and Anr. v. State of Punjab, AIR (1972) SC 2679 and Sarwan Singh and Ors.
v. State of Punjab, AIR (1976) SC 2304, referred to.
. I
C 1.2. The First Information Report is a report giving information of
the comntission of a cognizable crime which may be made by the
complainant or by any other person knowing about the commission of such
an offence. It is intended to set the criminal law in motion. The object of
insisting upon lodging of the FIR is to obtain the earliest information
regarding the circumstance in which the crime was committed. Sending
D the copy of the special report to the Magistrate as required under Section
157 Cr.P.C. is the only external check on the working of the police agency,
imposed by law which is required to be strictly followed. The delay in
sending the copy of the FIR may by itself not render the whole of the case
of the prosecution as doubtful but shall put the court on guard to find
out as to whether the version as stated in the Court was the same version
E as earlier reported in the FIR or was the result of deliberations involving
some other persons who were actually not involved in the commission of
the crime. [555-C, H; 556-A-q

2. The doctor who examined the deceased had stated that the blow
F given by the dhangu on hard portion of the body could cause incised
wound. The doctor, has categorically stated that the injury was possible,
in view of what has been stated by. Modi in his Text, by use of the dhangu
on the hard portion of the body. Therefore, there is no inconsistency
between the medical evidence and the ocular evidence. In any event where
the ocular evidence is cogent, credible, the medical evidence to the contrary
G cannot corrode the evidentiary value of the former. 1556-E-GJ

State of UP. v. Krishna Gopal and Ors., AIR (1988) SC 2154, relied
on.

Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology by Modi, referred to.
H
-
RAVI KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB [PASA YAT. J.] 551

3. A 'sudden fight' implies mutual provocation and blows on each A
side. The homicide committed is then clearly not traceable to unilateral
provocation, nor in such cases could the whole blame be placed on one
side. For if it were so, the Exception more appropriately applicable would
be Exception t of Section 300. There is no previous deliberation or
determination to fight. A fight suddenly takes place, for which both parties B
are more or less to be blamed. It may be that one of them starts it, but if
the other had not aggravated it by his own conduct it would not have taken
the serious turn it did. There is then mutual provocation and aggravation,
and it is difficult to apportion the share of blame which attaches to each
fighter. The word 'fight' occurring in Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC is
not defined in the IPC. It takes two to make a fight. Heat of passion C
requires that there must be no time for the passions to cool down and in
this case, the J.larties have worked themselves into a fury on account of
the verbal altercation in the beginning. There is no general rule as to what
shall be deemed to be a sudden quarrel. It is a question of fact and whether
a quarrel is sudden or not must necessarily depend upon the proved facts
of each case. For the application of Exception 4, it is not s-ufficient to show D
that there was a sudden quarrel and there was no premeditation. It must
further be shown that the offender has not taken undue advantage or acted
in cruel or unusual manner. The expression 'undue advantage' as used in
the provision means 'unfair advantage'. Appellant is convicted under
Section 304 Part II IPC, instead of conviction under Section 302 IPC by E
trial court and High Court. [557-D-H; 558-A, BJ

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 377
of 2005.

From the Judgment and Order dated 24.4.2002 of the Punjab and p
Haryana High Court in Crl.A. No. 620-08 of 1997.

Sakesh Kumar (A.C.) for the. Appellant.

Arun K. Sinha, Rakesh Singh and Sandeep Bhargava for the Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
G

ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. Leave granted.

Appellant calls in question legality of the judgment rendered by a
Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court affirming the conviction H
552 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A of the appellant (hereinafter referred to as the 'accused') under Section 302
of the Indian Penal Code,_ 1860 (in short the 'IPC') and sentence of
imprisonment for life and fine imposed with default stipulation.

Jhe prosecution version in a nutshell is as follows:

B On May 29, 1996 a quarrel had taken place between Hans Raj
(hereinafter referred to as the 'deceased') and accused Ravi Kumar, who was
then servant of one Gandharav Singh over a very trivial matt~r. Deceased
reported the incident to his brother Mohan L.al (PW-3) and Ram Lubhaya. On
May 30, 1996 at about 7 p.m. when the three brothers were present in the
Hada Rori of village Jadla, Gandharav Singh called deceased to get the
C dispute settled with his servant accused-Ravi Kumar. Mohan Lal and deceased·
followed Gandharav Singh to his tubewell. Accused-Ravi Kumar and Bahadur
Singh (PW-4) were already present there. Gandharav Singh placed a Dhangu
behind hi!TI. When the talks were going on, a quarrel between accused-Ravi
Kumar and deceased again ensued. Accused-Ravi Kumar picked up the
D Dhangu placed behind Gandharav Singh and gave two blows on the head of
deceased. Deceased fell down. Mohan Lal (PW-3) raised an alarm. In the
meantime Ram Lubhaya also reached there. Accused-Ravi Kumar then made
good his escape. Deceased was taken to the Primary Health Centre, Jadla by
Mohan Lal (PW-3) and Ram Lubhaya. After giving first aid, deceased was
referred to Civil Hospital, Nawanshahr.
E
Dr. Harbans Lal Mann (PW-I) medico-legally examined the deceased
at 9.05 a.m. on May 30, 1996. The doctor found two injuries - (i) incised
wound on the right side of the scalp and (ii) swelling on the occipital frontal
region. Both the injuries were kept under observation. Deceased was unfit to
F make a statement and was referred to the P.G.I., Chandigarh. Deceased was
admitted to P.G.I., Chandigarh, at about 10.20 a.m. on May 30, 1996. A.S.I.
Harbhajan Singh, Police Post P.G.l., Chandigarh (PW-2) moved an application
(Ex. PC) in order to know if deceased was fit to make a statement. The
doctor at the P.G.I. made the endorsement (Ex. PC/I) and declared the deceased
unfit to make a statement. Deceased ultimately died at 1.15 p.m. on May 30,
G 1996.

After the death of deceased, his brother Mohan Lal (PW-3) proceeded
to Police Station, Nawanshahr, to lodge the FIR. S.l. Surjit Kuniar (PW-7)
met him at the chowk on Chandigarh Road, Nawanshahr. The S.l. recorded
his statement (Ex.PH) and after making endorsement (Ex.PH/I), it. was
H dispatched to Police Station, Nawanshahr, where formal first information
RAVI KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB [PASAYAT, .I.] 553
report (Ex. ·PH/2) was recorded. A
The accused was arrested on 6th June, 1996 at the bus stand of the
village Virowal. He made a disclosure statement, pursuant to which the Dhangu
which was stated to be weapon of assault was recovered. On completion of
investigation charge sheet was placed. Charge for offence punishable under
Section 302 IPC was framed. "Accused pleaded innocence. Eight witnesses B
were examined to further the prosecution version. During trial accused took
the plea that the prosecution version needs to be rejected as there was delay
in lodging the FIR and submission of the special report to the lllaqa Magistrate,
unlikely presence of the witnesses at the scene of occurrence and their
interestedness, non-examination of Gandharv Singh though he was claimed C
to be an eye witness and inconsistency between the medical and oral evidence.
The trial court considered the .eviderice of the witnesses and found substance
in their testimony. It was noted that there was no unusual or unexplained
delay in lodging the FIR. Similar was the case with the dispatch of the special
J report to the lllaqa Magistrate. It was noted that non examination of Gandharav
i
l Singh is really of no consequence as he being the master of the accused~ D
I appellant would not have come out with the truth. The evidence disclosed
that the initial fight was between the accused and the deceased and the
I accused assaulted the. deceased when quarrel ensued during the talks for
.....
;
sorting out the difference. There was also no inconsistency between the medical
and oral evidence. There was no reason for the witnesses to falsely implicate E
the accused persons.

The appeal.before the High Court was dismissed by rejecting the ;•leas
which were reiterated.

In support of the appeal, learned counsel for the appellant submitted
that the doctor has found an incised wound which could not have been
F
possible with the weapon i.e. Dhangu which was claimed to have been used.
In any event, the assaults took place in the course of quarrel and, therefore,
Section 302 is ruled out, and Exception 4 of Section 300 IPC applies. There
was inordinate delay in lodging the FIR and sending the special report to the
Illaqa Magistrate. G
- Learned counsel for the respondent-State on the other hand supported
the judgment of the High Court and submitted that after detailed analysis the
Courts have found the accused guilty. There is no infirmity in the conclusions;
hence there is no reason to warrant any interference.
H
554 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2005) 2 S.C.R.

A The plea which was urged with some amount of vehemence was that
there was unreasonable delay in lodging the FIR and sending the special
report to the Illaqa Magistrate.

As the evidence on record shows the occurrence took place around 7
A.M. on 30th May, 1996. In the said occurrence the deceased was seriously
B injured. Therefore, the first priority of his brothers i.e. Mohan Lal (PW-3)
and Ram Lubhaya was to provide immediate medical aid so that his life
could be saved. He was immediately taken to the primary health centre, Jadla
and thereafter was taken to the Civil Hospital, Nawanshahr. There the doctor
after examining him found the condition to be serious and referred the patient
C to the PG! at Chandigarh where he ultimately died at 1.15 P.M. After his
death, PW-3 lodged first information report at the police station, Nawanshahr
shortly thereafter, after making arrangements for his funeral. The distance
between the hospital and the Police Station is few kilometers. The special
report was received by the lllaqa Magistrate shortly after the mid night. The
sequence of events as is evident from the record shows that there was no
D unreasonable delay in lodging the FIR as the first effort of his brothers was
to take the deceased to different hospitals for medical aid. As has been rightly
observed by the courts below the first priority of the family members was to
save the life of the deceased. Similarly, there is no unexplained delay in
sending the special report because of special magistrate, as the distance between
E the Police Station and the place where the Illaqa Magistrate was stationed
was not small.

In Ram Jag and Ors. v. The State of UP., AIR (1974) SC 606, it was
observed as follows:

"Whether the delay is so long as to throw a cloud of suspicion on
F the deeds of prosecution case must depend upon a variety of factors.
Even a long delay can be condoned if the witnesses have no motive
for implicating the accused. On the other hand, prompt filing of the
reports is not an unmistakable guarantee of the truthfulness of the
version of the prosecution.
G
It is true that witnesses cannot be called upon to explain every
hour's delay in filing information and a common sense view has to
be taken in ascertaining whether the First Information Rep011 was
lodged after an undue delay so as to afford enough scope for
manipulating evidence."
H
RA VI KUMAR v. STATE OF PUN.JAB [PASAYA T . .I.] 555

As observed by this Court in Pala Singh and Anr. v. State of Punjab, A
AIR ( 1972) SC 2679, some delay in receipt of the special report by the lllaqa
Magistrate does not make the investigation tainted. Similar was the view
expressed in Sarwan Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab, AIR (1976) SC 2304.
It was held that delay in dispatch of the First Information Report is not a
substance which can throw out the prosecution case in its entirety.
B
The trial court and the High Court, therefore, rightly held that there was
no delay in either lodging the FIR or sending the special report to the lllaqa
Magistrate.

The First Information Report is a report giving information of the
commission of a cognizable crime which may be made by the complainant C
or by any other person knowing about the commission of such an offence.
It is intended to set the criminal law in motion. Any information relating to
the commission of a cognizable offence is. required to be reduced to writing
by the officer-in-charge of the Police Station which has to be signed by the
person giving it and the substance thereof is required to be entered in a book D
to be kept by such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe
in that behalf. The registration of the FIR empowers the officer-in-charge of
the Police Station to commence investigation with respect to the crime reported
to him. A copy of the FIR is required to be sent forthwith to the Magistrate
empowered to take cognizance of such offence. After recording the FIR, the
officer-in-charge of the Police Station is obliged to proceed in person or E
depute one of his subordinate officers not below such rank as the State
Government may, by general or special order, prescribe in that behalf to
proceed to the spot to investigate the facts and circumstances of the case and
if necessary to take measures for the discovery and arrest of the offender. It
has been held time and again that the FIR is not a substantive piece of p
evidence and can only be used to corroborate the statement of the maker
under Section 161 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (in short the 'Evidence
Act') or to contradict him under Section 145 of that Act. It can neither be
used as evidence against the maker at the trial if he himself becomes an
accused nor to corroborate or contradict other witnesses. It is not the
requirement of law that the minutest details be recorded in the FIR lodged G
immediately after the occurrence. The fact of the state of mental agony of the
person making the FIR who generally is the victim himself, if not dead, or
the relations or associates of the deceased victim apparently under the shock
of the occurrence reported has always to be kept in mind. The object of
insisting upon lodging of the FIR is to obtain the earliest information regarding H
556 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2005] 2 S.C.R.

A the circumstance in which the crime was committed.

Sending the copy of the special report to the Magistrate as required
under Section 157 of the Cr. P.C. is the only external check on the working
of the police agency, imposed by law which is required to be strictly followed.
The delay in sending the copy of the FIR may by itself not render the whole
B of the case of the prosecution as doubtful but shall put the court on guard to
find out as to whether the version as stated in the Court was the same version
as earlier reported in the FIR or was the result of deliberations involving
some other persons who were actually not involved in the commission of the
crime. Immediate sending of the report mentioned in Section 157 Cr.P.C. is
C the mandate of law. Delay wherever found is required to be explained by the
prosecution. If the delay is reasonably explained, no adverse inference can be
drawn but failure to explain the delay would require the court to minutely
examine the prosecution version for ensuring itself as to whether any innocent
person has been implicated in the crime or not.

D It was highlighted by learned counsel for the appellant that the injury
which proved fatal was an incised wound and considering the prosecution
version that he was holding a Dhangu, such injury was not possible.

This plea is untenable. The doctor who examined the deceased had
clearly stated that the blow given by the Dhangu on hard portion of the body
E could cause incised wound. Reference may be made to Modi's Text Book of
·Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology (Sixteenth Edition). At page 224 it
has been mentioned that occasionally on wounds produced by a blunt weapon
or by a fall the skin splits and may look like incised wounds when inflicted
on tense structures covering the bones, such as the scalp, eye brow, illiac
F crest, shin, etc. or by a fall on the knee or elbow when the limb is flexed. The
edges of such wounds would be found irregular with a certain amount of
bruising. The doctor, as noted above, has categorically stated that the injury
was possible, in view of what has been stated by M.odi in his Text, by use
of the Dhangu on the hard portion of the body. Therefore, there is no
inconsistency between the medical evidence and the ocular evidence. In any
G event where the ocular evidence is cogent, credible, the medical evidence to
the contrary cannot corrode the evidentiary value of the former. (See State
of UP. v. Krishna Gopal and Ors., AIR (1988) SC 2154).

The residuary plea relates to the applicability of Exception 4 of Section
300 IPC.
H
RAVI KUMAR v. STATE OF PUNJAB [PASAYAT. J.] 557
For bringing in its operation it has to be established that the act was A
committed without premeditation, in a sudden fight in the heat of passion
upon a sudden quarrel without the offender having taken undue advantage
and not having acted in a cruel or unusual manner.

The Fourth Exception of Section 300 !PC covers acts done in a sudden
fight. The said exception deals with a case of prosecution not covered by the B
first exception, after which its place would have been more appropriate. The
exception is founded upon the same principle, for in both ti1ere is absence of
premeditation. But, while in the case of Exception I there is total deprivation
of self-control, in case of Exception 4, there is only that heat 'Jf passion
which clouds men's sober reason and urges them to deeds which they would C
not otherwise do. There is provocation in Exception 4 as in Exception I; but
the injury done is not the direct consequence of that provocation. In fact
Exception 4 deals with cases in which notwithstanding that a blow may have
been struck, or some provocation given in the origin of the dispute or in
whatever way the quarrel may have originated, yet the subsequent conduct of
both parties puts them in respect of guilt upon equal footing. A 'sudden fight' D
implies mutual provocation and blows on each side. The homicide committed
is then clearly not traceable to unilateral provocation, nor in such cases could
the whole blame be placed on one side. For if it were so, the Exception more
appropriately applicable would be Exception l. There is no previous
deliberation or determination to fight. A fight suddenly takes place, for which E
both parties are more or less to be blamed. It may be that one of them starts
it, but ifthe other had not aggravated it by his own conduct it would not have
taken the serious tu.m it did. There is then mutuai provocation and aggravation,
and it is difficult to apportion the share of blame which attaches to each
fighter. The help of Exception 4 can be invoked if death is caused (a) without
premeditation, (b) in a sudden fight; (c) without the offender's having taken F
undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual manner; and (d) the fight must
have been with the person killed. To bring a case within Exception 4 all the
ingredients mentioned in it must be found. It is to be noted that the 'fight'
occurring in Exception 4 to Section 300 !PC is not defined in the !PC. It
takes two to make a fight. Heat of passion requires that there must be no time G
for the passions to cool down and in this case, the parties have worked
themselves into a fury on account of the verbal altercation in the beginning.
A fight is a combat between two and more persons whether with or without
weapons. It is no possible to enunciate any general rule as to what shall be
deemed to be a sudden quarrel. It is a question of fact and whether a quarrel
is sudden or not must necessarily depend upon the proved facts of each case. H
558 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2005) 2 S.C.R.

A For the application of Exception 4, it is not sufficient to show that there was
a sudden quarrel and there was no premeditation. It must further be shown
that the offender has not taken undue advantage or acted in cruel or unusual
manner. The expression 'undue advantage' as used in the provision means
'unfair advantage'.

B Considering the factual background it will be appropriate to convict the
appellant under Section 304 Part II IPC, instead of Section 302 IPC as has
been done by the trial. court and affirmed by the High Court. Custodial
sentence of eight years would meet the ends of justice.

The appeal is allowed to the aforesaid extent.
c
D.G. Appeal allowed.