In a groundbreaking decision on November 28, the Supreme Court overturned a conviction under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for attempt to murder. The court attributed its decision to two crucial factors: the absence of repeated or severe blows and the simple nature of the injuries sustained by the victims.
The court stated, “Admittedly, there is no allegation of repeated or severe blows having been inflicted. Even the injuries on PW1 and PW2 have been found to be simple in nature, which is an additional point in the appellants’ favour… As such, the conviction under Section 307, IPC is unsustainable.”
While delivering this verdict, the court drew on legal precedents, including the pivotal Jage Ram v State of Haryana (2015) 11 SCC 366 case. In this earlier judgment, the Supreme Court had asserted that the intention of the accused could be discerned from the actual injury, the nature of the weapon used, and the severity of the blows inflicted.
Section 307 of the IPC prescribes punishment for attempt to murder, with a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, and life imprisonment if the victim is harmed. The recent decision came from a Division Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, who considered a criminal appeal where the High Court of Madras had confirmed the conviction but reduced the sentence from ten to five years of rigorous imprisonment.
The case revolved around a dispute between the victim and the accused concerning a lane, leading to a verbal altercation and a subsequent conspiracy by the accused to harm the victim. The attack resulted in injuries to the victim’s right shoulder and left thumb, and simple injuries to his mother’s back.
While the prosecution argued that the accused harbored intent due to a previous enmity, the appellants contended that the injuries were simple, and had their intention been to kill, they could have done so easily with the knives they possessed.
The Supreme Court, after weighing both arguments, found the conviction under Section 307 unsustainable and modified it to offenses under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC. The court also reduced the sentence to the period already undergone in the case of Sivamani and Anr. v. State represented by Inspector of Police, Criminal Appeal No. 3619 of 2023.
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