LAL MURMU Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal arises against the impugned judgment dated 30th March, 1987, passed by the 3rd Additional Sessions Judge, Dumka in Sessions Case Nos. 330/1984 and 36/1985, whereby the learned trial court convicted the appellant for the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo R.I. for life.

(2.) THE prosecution case, in short, is that the informant -Bahamuni Marandi (P.W. 5) lodged an FIR before the police on 20.2.1984 alleging therein that in the previous evening the accused appellant -Lal Murmu came to her house and asked her husband as to why being a 'Pradhan' of the village no action was being taken against the persons who got the crops of the villagers grazed through their cattle, to which the deceased replied that he was helpless to do anything since the villagers were not attending the Panchayat. Thereafter, some altercation took place and then the appellant is said to have assaulted her husband -Boila Baski by means of a 'Juath', due to which, he fell on the ground. Thereafter the informant brought her husband in the courtyard with the help of some other persons. In the next morning, when the informant was being taken to hospital, he died in the way near Durgapur Hat.

(3.) AFTER arguing for a while on the merit of the appeal, learned counsel for the appellant confined his arguments that even if the case of the prosecution is accepted, the present case would fall under Section 304 II and not under Section 302 IPC since only a single blow was only given by the appellant to the deceased that also by means of a 'Juath' which used for the purpose of ploughing land on his head and therefore it cannot be said that the appellant had in fact any intention to kill the deceased. He did not also repeat the blow. It is further submitted that the appellant has remained in custody for more than 20 years and therefore he has sufficiently been punished for the offence committed by him.