Beware, Dont make me angry!!

NEW DELHI: In a case where a man killed a ragpicker for throwing waste into his shop, the Supreme Court has said that it did not amount to murder. Differentiating between a pre-planned crime and one resulting from a fit of rage, the bench said that offences falling in the latter category would attract lesser punishment.

"In the heat of the moment, people sometimes do acts which aren't premeditated. Hence, the law provides that while those who commit acts in a fit of anger should also be punished, their punishment should be lesser than that of premeditated offences," said Justice Katju, writing the judgment for the bench.


The offence took place at a town in Tamil Nadu, where a tea stall and a waste paper shop did business next to each other. Muthu worked with the waste paper merchant and used to arrange the articles inside the shop. Shiva, a ragpicker, used to come and throw waste paper and rubbish inside the shop. He continued to do so despite being warned several times.

One day Muthu accosted Shiva, pulling him by hair. He flew into a rage when the ragpicker pushed him aside. He brought out a knife from the shop and stabbed Shiva, who died of the wounds. The trial court convicted Muthu of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Madras HC upheld the trial court verdict, turning down Muthu's appeal.

However, his plea was allowed by SC which termed the offence as "culpable homicide not amounting to murder", and reduced the sentence to 5 years. It ordered Muthu's release from jail as he had already undergone the prison term of five years.

The bench said, "We are satisfied that Muthu was deprived of the power of self-control by grave and sudden provocation which led him to commit the offence. If rubbish is thrown into one's house or shop, one would naturally get very upset. It is evident that the accused had no motive or intention to cause death since he was not carrying the knife from before, and only picked it up during the scuffle with Shiva."

As the weapon was not initially in the hand of the accused, but was picked up from the spot during the altercation, it could not be said that it was a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC, the bench said. The incident occurred in a sudden fight without Muthu having the knowledge that a single knife blow would cause Shiva's death, it added.
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