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Bhagwan Tukaram Dange v. State of Maharashtra

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1823 of 2008)Decided 13 Mar 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 1823 of 2008
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan · Justice Vikramajit Sen

Background

A husband and his father were convicted after his wife died from burns, having described how they poured kerosene on her and set her alight following a demand for money. The husband challenged the reliability of her dying declarations and argued that his drunkenness justified a lesser offence.

Decision Breakdown

The Court upheld the conviction and life sentence. The dying declarations were reliable and supported by the surrounding evidence, and being drunk did not establish an absence of the intention or knowledge involved in setting a person on fire. The Court rejected an automatic reduction to culpable homicide on that basis. Since the husband had served about sixteen years without remission, it directed the State to examine whether he qualified for release under its applicable remission policy; it did not order unconditional release.

Lesson Learnt

Drunkenness does not automatically excuse lethal violence or reduce a murder charge; eligibility for remission must be separately assessed under the applicable policy.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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