Supreme Court Reduces Murder Conviction to Manslaughter

Quick Summary

The Supreme Court has overturned a murder conviction for a man who killed his wife, reclassifying it as culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part II of the IPC. The court determined the act occurred in the 'spur of the moment' and was not premeditated, noting the husband's immediate attempt to seek medical help for his wife. The conviction, initially under Section 302 IPC by the Trial Court and upheld by the Delhi High Court, was modified based on the evidence, including that of the couple's young daughter. Having already served 12 years, the sentence was deemed sufficient.

The Supreme Court set aside a conviction of murder of a man for killing his wife and altered it as a conviction under Section 304 Part II IPC.
When the court found that the incident happened inthe spur of the moment, the accused immediately tried to take his wife to the hospital.
The accused was charged with murdering his wife and the only eyewitness of the incident was their 7-year-old daughter.
The Trial Court convicted him under Section 302 IPC which was again upheld by the Delhi High Court.
On the second appeal to Supreme Court, the accused argued that the murder occurred in the spur of the moment.
The Trial court and High Court have made detailed considerations about the veracity of the evidence of the child witness.
The child said that her mother said something to her father and he started beating her mother.
She was unable to open the latch to the door and went there, and immediately her father dressed up to get her mother to the hospital.
This indicates that this is not a pre-mediated murder.
Justices A.S. Bopanna and P.S. Narasimha held that there was no pre-mediation to cause death and that the incident was in the spur of the moment.
The appellant immediately realized his mistake and proceeded to take steps to move his wife to the hospital but unfortunately, she passed away.
The bench therefore in light of the facts of the case modified the conviction from Section 302 IPC to Section 304 Part II IPC.
It was also observed that since the accused had undergone 12 years of sentence, it shall be treated as sufficient punishment.

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