SC commutes death sentence of policeman

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Jan 26: The Supreme Court has commuted the life imprisonment handed down to a police personnel of Arunachal Prdesh for killing a truck driver to 10-year imprisonment after charging him under section 304 of the IPC instead of the earlier section 302.

Appellant Harendra Nath Borah had thrashed a truck driver Fekan Das on September 26, 2000 at Rusking Gate in Arunachal Pardesh. The victim died three days later on September 29, 2000 on way to hospital at Pasighat.

A Bench, comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia, in a judgment dated January 24, set aside the judgments and orders of the High Court as well as the trial court holding the appellant guilty of offence under section 302 of the IPC.

The apex court, while reducing the sentence, observed,''It will be sufficient to say that clause 4 of section 300 would be applicable where knowledge of the offender as to the probability of death of a person or persons in general, as distinguished from a particular person or persons- being caused from his imminently dangerous act, approximate to a practical certainty. Such knowledge on the part of the offender must be of the highest degree of probability, the act having been committed by the offender without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid.

''When the factual background of the case is analysed on the touchstone of principles set out above, the inevitable conclusion is that the case at hand is not covered under section 300. On the other hand, the case is covered under section 304, Part-I IPC. The conviction is accordingly altered. Custodiual sentence of 10 years would meet the ends of justice,'' the apex court noted.

UNI

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