New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday awarded 10
years' rigorous imprisonment to a physically challenged man
for stabbing a person, who died later, following a dispute
over a trivial issue saying the offence cannot be held as
murder as the convict did not intend to kill.
"The accused had given one stab blow to the deceased
when an altercation took place following a sudden fight after
the victim abused him ...there was no prior hostility between
them," District and Sessions Judge S P Garg said.
The court convicted Sanjeev Kumar Singh, a resident of
Okhla Industrial Area here, under milder section 304-I
(culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC,
instead of section 302 (murder) which prescribed rigorous life
imprisonment as minimum punishment.
Singh had not come prepared to commit the murder of
victim Pankaj who, on the evening of May 3, 2007, had abused
him at a roadside eatery, saying 'loole langre' (physically
challenged) get out from here, the court said.
The offence was the consequence of a sudden fight and
no motive to commit the murder could be imputed on the
accused, the court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on
him, said.
The victim and the accused had a verbal duel. Singh
took out a knife and stabbed the victim in the chest.
The victim died within a few hours after the incident.
Vishal, brother-in-law of the victim, had lodged an FIR
claiming himself to be an eye-witness.
The court, however, discarded Vishal's testimony
during the trial, terming him as an interested witness.
"Vishal claimed himself to be an eye-witness. However,
on scanning of evidence, I am of the considered opinion that
the prosecution has failed to prove his presence at the
spot... he being a relative of the deceased is an interested
witness," the court said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, May 24, 2010, 20:43