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Raghav Prashad and Others vs. State of U.P.

Not available · 2025 INSC 1172Decided 26 Sept 2025
Not available
Chief Justice · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

In 1986, a land-measurement dispute in a village in Uttar Pradesh erupted into a violent altercation in which the accused persons, who held a prior land dispute with the complainant's family, attacked the complainant's father and two uncles with a pike, sticks, and a spear. All three injured men died the same day. The Trial Court convicted the four accused under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC (murder) and sentenced them to life imprisonment; the Allahabad High Court upheld this conviction in 2013, leading to the present appeal by special leave (filed in 2014).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the concurrent finding that the accused had indeed caused the deaths, relying on the eyewitness testimony of the complainant's son (PW-1), corroborated by medical evidence. However, it found that although the accused could be attributed knowledge that their acts might cause death, there was no evidence of actual intention to kill: notably, despite carrying sharp weapons like a pike and spear, the accused had used only the blunt sides, and one witness confirmed prior personal enmity over the land dispute rather than a premeditated plan to murder. The Court therefore partly allowed the appeal, converting the conviction from murder (Section 302 IPC) to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 Part I IPC), and since the accused had already served over 12 years in custody, ordered their immediate release.

Lesson Learnt

The distinction between murder and culpable homicide often turns on whether the evidence shows an actual intention to kill, or merely knowledge that the act was likely to cause death or fatal injury, using the blunt side of an otherwise deadly weapon can be a significant factor pointing away from murderous intent.

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

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