Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab

This case analysis is written by Shambhavi Shree, a student of KIIT School of Law, Bhubaneswar (4th year).

Case Number

Criminal Appeal number 90 of 1957

Equivalent Citation

1958 AIR 465, 1958 SCR 1495

The accused person was tried under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 individually and jointly with five other accused under Section 302, 324, and 323 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Bench

Hon’ble Justice Syed Jafar Imam, Hon’ble Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, Vivian and Bose.

Decided on

11th March 1958

Relevant Act/ Section

Section 300(3) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 states that if the act was done with the intent to cause bodily injury and that act resulted in causing the death of a person then it comes under the category of murder.
Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 says that whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.

Brief Facts and Procedural History

Virsa Singh caused the injury to the deceased Khem Singh on the 13th of July 1955 at 8 p.m. Accused person made an unlawful assembly with five other persons and stabbed a weapon into the abdomen of the deceased. The abdomen of the accused was fractured and three coils of the intestines came out of the wound. Because of the injury, Khem Singh died on 14th July at 5 p.m. The doctor examined the dead body and reported that the forceful blow with a knife in the stomach of the deceased person passed through the abdomen and also caused injury to the bowels. And the damage to the body caused by the accused is sufficient to cause death.

Issues before the Court

Whether the injury caused by the accused is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death or not?
What was the nature of the injury?
Whether the injury caused was accidental?

Decision of the Court

At first, the Sessions Judge stated that the accused intended to cause grievous hurt. Section 300(3) is to be applied and the accused should be convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. High Court interrupted and further stated Section 300(3) will not be applicable as the intention to cause bodily injury that was sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature was not proved. The learned High Court Judges considered that the blow was sudden but later on accepted the fact after the post-mortem report of the deceased. Court referred to the case of Emperor V. Sardarkhan Jaridkhan (1916) 18 BOMLR 793, 36 Ind Cas 578[2] in which Beaman J. stated that if the death is caused by a single blow it is difficult to predict the nature of the offense caused. Supreme Court concluded that the facts and circumstances clearly state the intention to cause death. Therefore the condition under Section 300(3) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 were satisfied and the accused person was sentenced to death under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Reference

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1296255/
https://www.lawyerservices.in/Virsa-Singh-Versus-State-of-Punjab-1958-03-11
https://www.latestlaws.com/bare-acts/central-acts-rules/ipc-section-300-murder/#:~:text=Murder,-Next&text=Fourthly.,or%20such%20injury%20as%20aforesaid.

[1] Virsa Singh V. The State of Punjab on 11^th March [1958 SC]

[2] Emperor V. Sardarkhan Jaridkhan (1916) 18 BOMLR 793, 36 Ind Case 578

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