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Narender vs. State

Criminal Appeal · 2026:DHC:7800-DBDecided 15 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
CRL.A. 45/2005CNR: DLHC010510902005
Justice Navin Chawla · Justice Ravinder Dudeja

Background

Narender, a young wrestler, was convicted of murdering fellow wrestler Sandeep during a scuffle over cutting each other's hair (as part of a shaving ritual for another wrestler's marriage), after a pair of scissors used in the tussle struck Sandeep's chest. The trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Narender appealed, arguing the prosecution's own eyewitnesses did not actually see him deliver the fatal blow and that the incident was an accident during a scuffle he did not start.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court found that both eyewitnesses, though declared "hostile," consistently showed that Sandeep himself picked up the scissors first and that Narender was merely resisting having his hair forcibly cut. Neither witness saw the scissors in Narender's hand at the moment of injury, and the post-mortem doctor's opinion alone could not fill this gap. Applying the principle that guilt cannot rest on conjecture, the Court held the prosecution failed to prove Narender intended, or even foresaw, that his resistance would cause death, and that the injury fell within the "accident" exception under Section 80 IPC. Narender was acquitted.

Lesson Learnt

A conviction for murder requires proof that the accused actually intended or knew his act was likely to cause death: a tragic accident arising from a scuffle the accused did not provoke is not enough, even where a death results.

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