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Pasupuleti Siva Ramakrishna Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Others

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 466 of 2014)Decided 20 Feb 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 466 of 2014
Justice H.L. Dattu · Justice S.A. Bobde

Background

A workers' union president was attacked in the union office after collecting donations for a poor worker's daughter's marriage. The attackers struck him and tightened telephone wire around his neck. The High Court reduced the attempted-murder conviction to causing hurt and removed the house-trespass conviction.

Decision Breakdown

The Court restored the trial court's convictions and concurrent seven-year and ten-year sentences against the two respondent accused identified in its order. Attempted murder turns on the intention revealed by the attack, not simply on whether the injuries ultimately prove fatal. Strangling the victim with wire, alongside threats to kill him, showed the necessary intention. A union office could also constitute the building protected by the house-trespass provision; it did not have to be a private home. The respondents were directed to surrender within a month.

Lesson Learnt

Survival or comparatively limited injuries do not necessarily reduce an intentional attempt to kill to ordinary hurt. Criminal house-trespass protection can also apply to an office used by workers.

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

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