Culpable homicide and murder cover
very
different acts. To decide the issue, we can profitably take the aid of thedecision of Honble Supreme Court in Pulicherla Nagaraju @ Nagaraja Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh19 wherein certain factors have been listed to
glean if the aggressor had an intention to cause death:
“29… It is for the courts to ensure that the cases of murder punishable under Section 302, are not converted into offences
punishable under section 304 Part I/II, or cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder are treated as murder punishable under
Section 302. The intention to cause death can be gathered generally from a combination of a few or several of the following, among other,
circumstances;
(i) nature of the weapon used;
(ii) whether the
weapon was carried by the accused or was picked up from the spot;
(iii) whether the blow is aimed at a vital part of the body;
(iv) the amount of force employed in causing injury;
(v) whether the act was in the course of sudden quarrel or sudden fight or free for all fight;
(vi) whether the incident occurs by chance or whether there was any premeditation;
(vii) whether there was any prior enmity or whether the deceased was a stranger;
(viii) whether there was any grave and sudden provocation, and if so, the cause for such provocation;
(ix) whether it was in the heat of passion;
(x) whether the person inflicting the injury has taken undue advantage or has acted in a cruel and unusual manner;
(xi) whether the accused dealt a single blow or several blows.
The above list of circumstances is, of course, not exhaustive and there may be several other special circumstances with
reference to individual cases which may throw light on the question of intention.”
In Stalin v. State20, this Court held that death caused by a single stab wound can also be considered murder if the requirements of
section 300, IPC are fulfilled.
