Holding

The appellant is entitled to the benefit of Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC; the conviction under Section 302 is set aside and he is convicted under Section 304 Part I.

Summary

Surinder Kumar was convicted of murder under Section 302 IPC for stabbing PW 2 and his brother Nitya Nand, who died. He appealed, claiming the incident was a sudden quarrel and that Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC applied, reducing the offence to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Supreme Court examined the requirements of Exception 4—sudden fight, no pre‑meditation, heat of passion, and absence of undue advantage or cruelty. It held that the quarrel was indeed sudden, the appellant acted without pre‑meditation, and the injuries, though multiple, did not constitute cruelty. Consequently, the conviction under Section 302 was set aside and the appellant was convicted under Section 304 Part I, with a sentence of seven years’ rigorous imprisonment.

Issues considered

Whether the facts satisfy the criteria of Exception 4 to Section 300 IPC to reduce murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Whether the number of injuries inflicted indicates cruelty disqualifying the exception.
Whether the conviction under Section 302 IPC should be set aside and substituted with conviction under Section 304 Part I.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 300, s. 302, s. 304(1), s. 307, s. 411

Subjects

Exception 4Section 300 IPCculpable homicidemurdersudden quarrelcrueltypremeditationIndian Penal Codecriminal appealrigorous imprisonment

Judgment

SURINDER KUMAR
.'4 A
v.
UNION TERRITORY, CHANDIGARH

MARCH 8, 1989

[S. NATARAJAN AND A.M. AHMADI, JJ.] B
)(

Indian Penal Code, 1860---Section 300 Exception 4----lngredients
of-On sudden quarrel person picks up weapon which is handy and
--'.( ~ inflicts injuries, one of which is fatal-Provision applicable.

The deceased and his brother P. W. 2 were sharing accommoda-
tion with P. W. 4 as a tenant on the 1st Floor of a house in Chandigarh. c
The father of the appellant also occupied two rooms on the same floor as
~
a tenant. As a marriage was scheduled in the family of the appellant's
father a request was made to P.W 4 to permit the use of the kitchen for
a few days. The possession of the kitchen was delivered on a clear
understanding that it would be returned to P.W. 4 after the marriage. D
The possession of the kitchen was however not delivered to P. W. 4 and
that led to the quarrel. The deceased and his brother P. W. 2 had an
heated argument with the appellant in regard to the return of the
kitchen. P. W. 2 was alleged to have showered filthy abnses in the pre-
'>\ sence of the appellant's sister, and taken out a pen knife from his pocket
and also threatened to throw out the ntensils and lock up the kitchen. E
The appellant got enraged, went into the kitchen and returned with a
..._ knife with which he inflicted one blow on the nec.k of P. W. 2 causing a
bleeding injury and also inflicted three knife blows to the brother of
P. W. 2 as a result whereof he collapsed on the floor and later died while

'
on the way to the hospital.
F
t The appellant was convicted hy the Sessions Judge under Section
302, Indian Penal Code and his conviction having been upheld by the
High Court, be preferred an appeal by special leave to this Court. It
was contended for the appellant that there was no previous ill-will
between the parties, on the contrary the relations were cordial and the
appellant was not the one who had started the quarrel but he acted in G
the heat of passion during a sudden quarrel without any premeditation
~ and hence Exception 4 to Section 300, I.P.C. was applicable. On the
other hand counsel for the State argued that the High Court had rightly
held that the appellant had acted in a cruel ·and unusual manner and
was not entitled to the benefit of the said Exception, and that the three
injuries inflicted showed that the appellant had acted in a cruel manner. H
941
942 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 1 S.C.R.

A Partly allowing the appeal, this Conrt,

HELD: To invoke Exception 4 to Section 300 I.P.C. four require-
ments most be satisfied, namely (i) it was a sudden fight; (ii) there was
no premeditation; (iii) the act was done in a heat of passion, and (iv) the
assailant had not taken any undue advantage or acted in a cruel
B manner. The cause of the quarrel is not relevant nor is it relevant who
offered the provocation or started the assault. The number of wounds
caused during the occurrence is not a decisive factor but what is impor-
tant is that the occurrence must have been sudden and unpremeditated
and the offender must have acted in a fit of anger. [945B-D I

C Where, on a sudden quarrel, a person in the heat of the moment
picks up a weapon which is handy and causes injuries, one of which
proves fatal, he would be entitled to the benefit of this Exception pro-
vided he has not acted cruelly, [9450-E]

In the instant case, after P. W. 2 and his deceased brother entered
l
D the room of the appellant and uttered filthy abuses in the presence of
the latter's sister, tempers ran high and on P.W. 2 taking out a pen
knife, the appellant picked np the knife from the kitchen, ran towards
P. W. 2 and inflicted a simple injury on his neck. It would be reasonable
to infer that the deceased must have intervened on the side of his
brother P. W. 2 and in the course of the scuffie he received injuries, one
E of which proved fatal. Under these circumstances, it is proper to convict
the accused under Section 304, Part 1, I.P.C. and direct him to suffer
rigorous imprisonment for 7 years. [94'iC-E]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal

F
No. 530 of 1978
~
',
From the Judgment and Order dated 13.9.1978 of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 1154 of 1975.

M.L. Verma, S.K. Bagga and Mrs. S. Bagga for the Appellant.

G Tara Chand Sharma and Miss A. Subhashini for tne Respondent.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

AHMADI, J. The appellant, having been convicted by the
learned Sessions Judge, Chandigarh under Section 302.1.P.C., and his
H appeal against conviction having been dismissed by the High Court of
SURINDER KUMAR v. UNION TERRITORY [AHMADI, J.] 943

..
'. Punjao &. Haryana, has preferred this appeal by special leave. The
conviction of the appellant is principally based on the ocular evidence
A
of PW 2 Kesho Gupta and PW 4 Varinder Singh. The facts emerging
from the evidence of these two main witnesses coupled with the evi-
dence of the other prosecution witnesses may be stated as follows:
I

J( PW 5 Mangal Dass was the owner of House No. 3220 in Sector B
23-D, Chandigarh, consisting of the ground floor and the first floor.
The ground floor was occupied by Mangal Dass himself while the first

~-<
floor consisting of four rooms and a kitchen was tenanted; two rooms
and. a kitchen were rented to PW 4 while the other two rooms were
occupied by Sikander Lal, the father of the appellant and Amrit Lal
(the acquitted accused). PW 2 Kesho and his brother Nitya Nand
(deceased) belonged to village Narnaul to which PW 4 also belonged. c
)' They had come to Chandigarh a couple of years back and were sharing
the accommodation with PW 4. As Amrit Lal's marriage was schedu-
led on December 7, 1974, a request was made to PW 4 by Sikander Lal
to permit the use of the kitchen for a few days. Accordingly, the
possession of the kitchen was delivered to Sikander Lal on December D
4, 1974 on a clear understanding that it would be returned to PW 4
after the marriage. As the possession of the kitchen was not returned
immediately after the marriage, PW 2 and his deceased brother Nitya
~ N and demanded possession thereof from Sikander Lal. They were
initially put off but according to the prosecution the possession of the
t kitchen was delivered on January 1, 1975. However, as the kitchen had E
to be cleane_d it was not occupied by PW 2 and PW 4 till January 3,

--
__,._\
1975 on which date the family members of Sikander Lal are stated to
have re-entered the kitchen. It may here be mentioned that this part of

., y the prosecution evidence has not been accepted by the learned Ses-
sions Judge. According to the learned Sessions Judge, the possession
J
t of the kitchen was not delivered to PW 4 till January 3, 1975 and that F
led to the quarrel in which PW 2 received a knife injury on the neck
and his brother Nitya Nand lost his life. On this aspect of the matter,
the High Court has not expressed any opinion. On a perusal of the
relevant evidence we are inclined to think that the finding of fact
recorded by the learned Sessions Judge in this behalf is correct.
G
, On January 3, 1975, at about 7.15 p.m., PW 2 and his deceased
j.· brother had an heated argument with the appellant and his brother
Amrit Lal in regard to the return of the kitchen. In the course of this
heated exchange PW 2 is alleged to have showered filthy abuses.
Although PW 2 denies this fact, PW 4 has admitted the same. PW 2
also threatened to throw out the utensils and lock the kitchen. Since H
944 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989) 1 S.C.R.

PW 2 was uttering filthy abuses. in the presence of the appellant's sister
A
and Nitya Nand did not restrain him, the appellant got enraged, went
into the kitchen and returned with a knife with which he inflincted one
blow on the neck of PW 2 causing a bleeding injury. In the me lee the
appellant inflicted three knife blows to Nitya Nand; one on the shoul-
der, the other on the elbow and the third on the chest, as a result
B whereof Nitya Nand collapsed to the floor and later died while on the
way to the hospital. The fact that Nitya Nand died a homicidal death is
not in dispute.

The appellant's defence was that on the date of the incident PW 2
and his deceased brother had demanded vacant possession of the
kitchen and on being told that PW 4 had permitted them to continue to
c occupy it they uttered filthy abuses in the presence of his sister and on
being asked to desist from using such language PW 2 began to throw
out the utensils from the kitchen. When the appellant tried to stop him
Iii
from doing so, PW 2 took out a knife from his pant pocket whereupon
the appellant took shelter behind a door. PW 2 rushed towards him
D with the kinfe but in the meanwhile Nitya Nand moved in between and
sustained the injuries in question. The courts below have, however,
concluded, and in our opinion rightly, that the appellant had in the
course of the quarrel given stab wounds to PW ~ and the deceased
Nitya Nand. •

E The learned Advocate for the appellant submitted that there was
no previous ill-will between the parties, on the contrary the relations
were cordial and the appellant was not the one who had started the .....
quarrel but he acted in the heat of passion during a sudden quarrel J
without any premeditation and hence Exception 4 to Section 300, IPC
was clearly attracted. On the other hand the learned counsel for the '""{
F State argued that the High Court had rightly held that the appellant t•
had acted in a cruel and unusual manner and was not entitled to the
benefit of the said exception. He submitted that the appellant had
attacked an unarmed person and had caused as many as three injuries •
which showed that he had acted in a cruel manner. The appellant's
counsel countered by pointing out from the evidence of PW 1 Dr.
G Goyal that the appellant had a deformity in the left leg which restricted
his movement and he would ordinarily not venture to attack unless he --~ t

was forced by circumstances to use the weapon to contain PW 2. "'
Exception 4 to Section 300 reads as under:

H "Exception 4: Culpable homicide is not murder if it' is
SURINDER KUMAR v. UNION TERRITORY !AHMADI, J.] 945

committed without premeditation in a sudden fight in the
A
heat of passion upon a sudden quarrel and without the
offender having taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel •
or unusual manner.

Explanation: It is immaterial in such cases which
party offers the provocation or commits the first assault." B

To invoke this exception four requirements must be satisfied,
namely, (i) it was a sudden fight; (ii) there was no premeditation; (iii)
the act was done in a heat of passion; and (iv) the assailant had not
taken any undue advantage or acted in a cruel manner. The. cause of
the quarrel is not relevant nor is it relevant who offered the provoca-
tion or started the assault. The number of wounds caused during the
c
occurrence is not a decisive factor but what is important is that the
occurrence must have been sudden and unpremeditated and the offen-
der m_ust have acted in a fit of anger. Of course, the offender must not
have taken any undue advantage or acted in a cruel manner. Where,
on a sudden quarrel, a person in the heat of the moment picks up a D
weapon which is handy and causes injuries, one of which proves fatal,
he would be entitled to the benefit of this exception provided he has
not acted cruelly. In the present case, the deceased and PW 2 had
entered the room occupied by Sikander Lal and his family members
and had demanded vacant possession of the kitchen. When they found
that the appellant was disinclined to handover possession of the E
kitchen, PW 2 quarrelled and uttered filthy abuses in the presence of
the appellant's sister. On the appellant asking him to desist he
threatened to lock up the kitchen by removing the utensils, etc., and
that led to a heated argument between the appellant on the one side
and PW 2 and his deceased brother on the other. In the course of this
heated argument it is the appellant's case that PW 2 took out a knife F
from his pant pocket. This part of the appellant's case seems to be
probable having regard to the antecedents of PW 2. It is on record that
PW 2 was convicted at Narnaul on two occasions under Section 411,
!PC and his name was registered as a bad character at the local police
station. It was presumably because of this reason that he had shifted
from Narnaul to Chandigarh a couple of years back and had started to G
live in the premises rented by PW 4. When the appellant found that
PW 2 had taken out a pen knife from his pocket he went into the
adjoining kitchen and returned with a knife. From the simple injury
caused to PW 2 it would appear that PW 2 was not an easy target. That
is why the learned Sessions Judge rejected the case that Amrit Lal had
held PW 2 to facilitate an attack on him by the appellant. It further H
946 SUPREME COURT REPORTS I1989) 1 S.C.R.
A seems that thereafter a scuffle must have ensued on Nitya Nand in-
tervening to help his brother PW 2 in which two minor injuries were
_)' ,- ...
•Suffered by the deceased on the left arm before the fatal blow was
inflicted on the left flank at the level of the 5th rib about 2" below the
nipple. It may incidentally be mentioned that the Trial Court came to
the .conclusion that the injury found on the neck of PW 2 was a self-
B inflicted wound and had therefore acquitted the appellant of the
)'\
charge under Section 307, IPC, against which no appeal was carried.
We have, however, proceeded to examine this mat\er on the premise
that PW 2 sustained the injury in the course of the incident. From the
above facts, it clearly emerges that after PW 2 and his deceased
brother entered the room of the appellant and l!ttered filthy abuses in
c the presence of the latter's sister, tempers ran high and on PW 2 taking
out a pen knife the appellant picked up the knife from the kitchen, ran
towards PW 2 and inflicted a simple injury on his neck. It would be
reasonable to infer thatthe deceased must have intervened on the side
of his brother PW 2 and in the course of the scuffle he received in-
juries, one of which proved fatal. Taking an overall view of the inci-
D dent we are inclined to think that the appellant was entitled to the
benefit of the exception relied upon. The High Court refused to grant
him that benefit on the ground that he had acted in a cruel manner but
we do not think that merely because three injuries were caused to the
deceased it could be said that he had acted in a cruel and unusual
manner. Under these circumstances, we think it proper to convict the
E accused under Section 304, Part I, IPC and direct him to suffer rigor-
ous imprisonment for 7 years.

In the result, this appeal partly succeeds. The order of conviction
and sentence passed under Section 302, !PC is set aside and the fine, ii
paid, is directed to be refunded. The appellant is convicted under
F Section 304 Part I, IPC and is directed to suffer rigorous imprisonment
for 7 years.

S.K.A. Appeal allowed.