Culpable Homicide and

Murder

By: Hifajatali Sayyed

 Introduction
 The word ‘Homicide’ is derived from latin word ‘Homa’ which means
human beings and ‘Cide’ which means killing.
 Homicide means killing of a human being by a human being.

 The law of Homicide, i.e. killing of a human being by a human being

punishes the accused person but it is exempted under certain
circumstances. Therefore, homicide can be divided into 2 parts.

I. Lawful Homicides: Acts which are covered under the chapter of

General Exceptions of IPC.

II. Unlawful Homicides: Acts wherein a human being intentionally causes

death of another human being and there is no justification for his act.
 Introduction
Homicide

Lawful Unlawful
Homicide Homicide

Justifiabl Causing
Excusable Culpable
e death by
Homicide Homicide Negligence
Homicide

Murder
 Culpable Homicide
 Sec 299 of IPC defines the offence of culpable homicide.

 Ingredients of sec 299 are:

1. A person causes death.

2. By doing an act.

3. With the intention of causing death, or

4. With the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to

cause death, or
5. With the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death.
 Culpable Homicide
1. A person causes death:
In order to prove the offence of culpable homicide, it must be
shown that death of the human being has been caused by the
act of the accused. ‘Death’ has been defined under section 46 of
the Code as denoting the death of a human being, unless the
contrary appears from the context. The relevant consideration
for offence of culpable homicide is that the death is caused as a
direct result of the act committed by the accused.
 Culpable Homicide
 Joginder Singh vs State of Punjab (AIR 1979 SC 1876)
In this case, the deceased had teased the sister of the accused.
In retaliation, the two accused went to the house of the
deceased. On seeing the accused person, the deceased started
running towards the field. Here the accused started chasing
him and the deceased jumped into the well. As a result of
this, the deceased sustained head injuries, which made him
loose consciousness and thereafter he died due to drowning.
The Supreme Court held that the accused were about 15 to 20
feet away from the deceased, when he jumped into the well.
There was no evidence to show that the accused drove the
deceased into the well or they had left no option but to jump
into the well. Therefore the court acquitted the accused of the
charge of murder.
 Culpable Homicide
 Moti Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh (AIR 1964 SC 900)
In this case the accused had shot the deceased in the
abdomen. The injury was received on 9th February, 1960.
Subsequently he was discharged from the hospital. There
was no evidence as to whether he had fully recovered or not
when he was discharged from the hospital. He however died
on 1st of March, 1960. His body was cremated without any
postmortem being done.
Here the Supreme Court held that the mere fact that the
gunshot injuries were dangerous to life were not sufficient
for holding the accused liable for the death of the deceased.
Since there was no evidence to establish the cause of death,
the accused could not be said to have caused the death.
 Culpable Homicide
2. By doing an act:
• An ‘act’ according to section 33 of the Code denotes as well as
a series of acts as a single act and the word ‘omission’ denotes
as well a series of omissions as a single omission.
• Section 32 of the Code makes it specific that in every part of
this Code, except where a contrary intention appears from the
context, words which refer to acts done extend also to illegal
omissions.
 Culpable Homicide
3. With the intention of causing death:
For the offence of culpable homicide, it must be proved that
there was an intention of the accused of causing death.
Generally the intention of the accused is to be determined
from the act of the accused.
Intention with reference to culpable homicide, not
necessarily means pre-meditation or preplanning. The
expectation that the act of a person is likely to result
in death is sufficient to constitute intention.
 Culpable Homicide
4. With the intention of causing such bodily injury as
is likely to cause death:
If the intention of the accused is to cause a particular injury,
which is likely to cause death then it amounts to the offence of
culpable homicide.
The court should determine whether a bodily injury is likely to
cause death by three things;
a. The body part where the injury has been caused.
b. The nature of injury.
c. The nature of the weapon used.
 Culpable Homicide
 Difference between ‘intention to cause death’ and ‘intention
to cause such bodily injury as likely to cause death’:
• The main difference between these two expressions is that of degree
of criminality. The latter is a degree lower in scale of criminality
than the former. But in both the cases, the intention is present and so
the law does not make any distinction in punishment u/s 304 Part-I.
• Secondly, in the former the accused has the intention to cause death
whereas in the latter he has no intention to cause death but only to
cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.
 Culpable Homicide
5. With the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause
death:

For the offence of culpable homicide it is to be shown that the

accused was having knowledge that his act can cause death.
Knowledge means consciousness. It is awareness of the consequences
of the act. The offender should reasonably expect that the
consequence of his act would probably result in the death of a person.

If a person is driving at a very high speed in the crowded area than he

is having knowledge that an accident can occur which can cause
death of human being.
 Culpable Homicide
 Ramesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (AIR 1993 SC 2317)
In this case, the accused persons who were four in number were
armed with pistol, lathi and knife at the time of incident. They
attacked the deceased with kicks and fist blows. The victim died
because of shock and haemorrhage. Here the accused did not
use pistol, lathi or knife to attack the deceased.

So the Court held that the accused had knowledge that by their
acts they were likely to cause the death of the deceased though
without any intention to cause death.
 Culpable Homicide
 Sec 299 of IPC is appended with three explanations.
 Explanation 1:
• Causing bodily injury to a person labouring under a disorder,
disease or bodily infirmity and thereby accelerating his death has
been deemed to be causing his death under the first explanation. It
is futile for the offender to contend that had the deceased not been
labouring under a disorder, disease or bodily infirmity he would not
have died.
• This explanation pre-supposes that the act on the part of the accused
falls under at least one of the ingredients of section 299. If such is
not the case and the prosecution fails to establish on the part of the
accused either intention to cause death, or intention to cause such
bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or knowledge that the bodily
injury is such as is likely to cause death, this explanation will not be
applicable.
 Culpable Homicide
 Explanation 2:
• It provides for a situation wherein a person who has been injured
could have recovered and escaped death, if, he had been given
prompt and proper medical treatment. In such situations too,
the fact that the injured person died because he could not avail of
good medical treatment, cannot be ground for excusing the guilt of
the person who inflicted the injury.
• Sellappan v. State of Tamil Nadu (Appeal (crl.) 123 of 2007)
In this case, the accused gave two blows with a stick to the deceased
on the head. Subsequently the deceased was admitted to the
hospital and after 1 week the deceased died because of the injuries.
Here the Supreme Court held that the plea of the accused that with
proper treatment, life of the deceased could have been saved is not
tenable in view of explanation 2 to section 299. The accused was
convicted for culpable homicide.
 Culpable Homicide
 Explanation 3:
• It provides that if the death of the child is caused when still in the
mother’s womb, it is not culpable homicide. However, if any
portion of the child, comes out of the mother’s womb, even if it is
not fully born, and if the death is caused to such a child, then it
would amount to culpable homicide if requirements mentioned
in section 299 are fulfilled..
• In other words, killing of a pregnant woman is only one
homicide and not homicides because as long as a child is in the
mother’s womb it has no independent existence of its own. 
 Murder
 Sec 300 of IPC defines murder with reference to the offence of
culpable homicide defined u/s 299 of IPC.
 Only if an act falls under clauses 1-4 of sec 300, then culpable
homicide will amount to murder.
 If the act comes under the exceptions given below sec 300
than it is culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
 Murder is the aggravated form of culpable homicide.
 It can be said that all murders are culpable homicide but all
culpable homicides are not murder.
 Murder
 According to sec 300, Culpable Homicide amounts to murder in the following
cases:
1) If the act is done with the intention of causing death.

2) If the act is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender
knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused.
3)  If the act is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is sufficient
in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.

4) If the act is done with the knowledge, that it is so imminently dangerous that it
must, in all probability, cause death, or such bodily injury as is likely to cause
death, and such act is committed without any excuse for incurring the risk of
causing death or injury.
 Murder
1. If the act is done with the intention of causing death:
• Intention connotes a conscious state in which mental faculties are roused
into activity and summoned into action for the deliberate purpose of
being directed towards a particular and specified act and which the
human mind conceives and perceives before itself.
•  Intention is what intention does. So, the intention of the person
can be gathered from the action of the person.
• If a person administers a deadly poison to a man, then it is very clear that
he has an intention to kill that man, because the cause and effect of the
act are very clear. It is evident that the effect of poisoning is to cause
instant death. 
 Murder
 Selvaraj vs State Of Tamil Nadu (1998) 9 SCC 308

• In this case, because of some dispute the accused person

stabbed the victim on his left chest with a knife and
brought it downwards, due to which the intestines came
out of the abdomen with bleeding. 
• Here, the Supreme Court held that the intention to kill
the deceased was very clear from the act of the accused.
So the accused was convicted for the offence of murder.
 Murder
 It is important to note that the first clause of sec 300,
which is ‘act done with intention to cause death’ is
identical to the first clause of sec 299, which is also
‘doing an act with the intention of causing death.’ So an
act coming under clause (1) of sec 300 will also fall under
clause (1) of sec 299, and in both instances it will be
culpable homicide amounting to murder.
 Murder
2. With the intention of causing such bodily injury as the
offender knows to be likely to cause death:
• If a person intentionally causes bodily injury, with the knowledge that
such bodily injury will cause death of the person injured, then it will be
culpable homicide amounting to murder.
• Here both the aspects of mens rea i.e. intention and knowledge are
present.
• In case of offence falling under clause (2) of Section 300, there is first,
the intention to cause bodily harm and next, there is the ‘subjective
knowledge’ that death will be the likely consequence of the intended
injury.
 Murder
Clause (2) continues…
• It is said to be ‘subjective knowledge’, because it is the his own
personal perception of the consequence of his act. Here
‘knowledge’ on the part of the offender imports certainty and not
merely probability.
• The clause contemplates a situation, where the offender has a
certain special knowledge regarding the peculiar situation or
health condition of the particular victim that the intentional
bodily injury is likely to be fatal.
• A, knowing that Z is laboring under such a disease that a blow is
likely to cause his death, strikes him with the intention of causing
bodily injury. Z dies in consequence of the blow. A is guilty of
murder, although the blow might not have been sufficient in the
ordinary course of nature to cause the death of a person in a sound
state of health
 Murder
3. With the intention of causing such bodily injury as is
sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause
death:
For the application of clause (3) of Section 300, two things
need to be proved: one that the injury was intentionally
inflicted and secondly, that the injury inflicted was sufficient
in the ordinary course of nature to cause death of any person.
 Dhansai Sahu vs State of Orissa (AIR 1969 Ori 105)
In this case, the accused person assaulted an old man of
about 70 years by wooden pole. The victim died of the
consequences. The Orissa High Court convicted the accused
for murder and held that the injuries caused were sufficient
in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
 Murder
 Virsa Singh vs The State Of Punjab (AIR 1958 SC 465)
In this case, the accused thrust a spear into the abdomen of the
deceased. This injury caused his death. Here the Supreme
Court held that the prosecution must prove the following before
it can bring a case under third clause of sec 300 of IPC.
1) It must establish, quite objectively, that a bodily injury is
present.
2) The nature of the injury must be proved; these are purely
objective investigations.
3) It must be proved that there was an intention to inflict that
particular injury, that is to say, that it was not accidental or
unintentional, or that some other kind of injury was intended.
4) It must be proved that the injury was sufficient to cause death
in the ordinary course of nature.
 Murder
4. With the knowledge, that it is so imminently
dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause
death:
Clause (4) of sec 300 contemplates generally, commission of the
acts which are so imminently dangerous that it is likely to cause
death. It contains the element of knowledge regarding the serious
consequences of the act.
Eg: A without any excuse fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of
persons and kills one of them. A is guilty of murder, although he
may not have had a premeditated design to kill any particular
individual.
 Murder
Clause (4)… conti…
Without any excuse for incurring the risk of
causing death:
It means that the accused person has committed the act and
has no valid ground whatsoever for taking such a big risk of
causing death. If there is some valid excuse available for
incurring such a risk, obviously this clause has no application.
  Emperor vs Dhirajia (AIR 1940 All 486)
In this case, a young village woman, was continuously being
ill-treated by her husband. On the day of the incident they had
again quarreled and the husband had threatened that he
would beat her. The woman slipped away from home with her
six month old child in the night.
 Murder
Emperor vs Dhirajia Cont.…
But after having gone for some distance she heard the sound of foot
steps behind her. Turning around she saw that her husband was
following her. She got in a panic and immediately jumped into a
well along with her child. The child died even though she was
saved. It was held that even though she knew that her act of
jumping into the well along with her child was so imminently
dangerous that it must cause death of the child in all probability,
yet she had a valid excuse for incurring such risk as in a panic she
had to decide at the spur of the moment as to how could she get
away from her husband who was following her and she thought
that jumping into the well was the only way and she did the same.
Consequently, clause (4) of section 300 was not attracted and she
was held guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder
under clause (3) of section 299 of the Code.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

 Sec 300 provides five exceptional situations, the existence of

which will remove a case from the purview of sec 300 and it will
merely be culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
 The following are the exceptions provided under sec 300:

1. Grave and sudden provocation.

2. Exceeding Right of Private Defence.

3. Public Servant exceeding his power.

4. Sudden Fight.

5. Consent.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
Exception 1 - Grave and Sudden Provocation:
Culpable homicide will not be murder, if, the offender on
account of grave and sudden provocation, is deprived of his
power of self-control and causes the death of a person.
This exception is subject to certain conditions:
a. The provocation is not sought or voluntarily provoked by the
offender as an excuse.
b.  The provocation is not given by anything done in obedience
to the law, or by a public servant in the lawful exercise of the
powers of such public servant.
c. The provocation is not given by anything done in the lawful
exercise of the right of private defence.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 K M Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra (AIR 1962 SC 605)
In this case, the accused was a naval officer. One day, his wife confessed
to him that she had developed intimacy with the deceased. Enraged at
this, the accused went to ship, took a revolver and six cartridges from
the store of the ship, went to the flat of the deceased, entered his
bedroom and shot him dead. Thereafter the accused surrendered
himself to the police.
Here the Supreme Court held that the accused, after his wife confessed
about the illicit relationship, may have momentarily lost control. He had
thereafter dropped his wife and children to a cinema, left them there,
went to his ship, took a revolver on a false pretext, loaded it with six
rounds, did some official business there, and drove his car to the office
of deceased and then to his flat, went straight to the bed-room of
deceased and shot him dead. There was sufficient time for him to regain
self-control. So the Court held that it is not a case under exception of sec
300 and convicted the accused for murder.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 K M Nanavati Cont…..
Here the Supreme Court has laid down certain guidelines relating to
grave and sudden provocation:
i. The test of grave and sudden provocation is whether a reasonable
person belonging to the same class of society as the accused, placed in
a similar situation, would be so provoked as to lose his self control.
ii. In India, unlike in England, words and gestures may, under certain
circumstances cause grave and sudden provocation so as to attract that
Exception.
iii. The mental background created by any previous act of the
victim can also be taken into consideration in judging whether the
subsequent act could cause grave and sudden provocation.
iv. Fatal blow should be clearly traced to the influence of the passion
arising from that provocation and not after the passion had
cooled down by lapse of time or otherwise, giving room and scope
for premeditation and calculation.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 Bhura Ram vs State of Rajasthan (2003) 9 SCC 205
In this case, the accused, armed with weapon and accompanied
with others, entered into the hut of the deceased. Apprehending
danger to his life, the deceased fired at one of the companions of
the accused and thereby caused his death. The accused then
attacked the deceased with an axe on his head and killed him.
During trial he pleaded that the death of the companion caused
grave and sudden provocation to him.
Here the Supreme Court refused to accept the plea as the accused
himself was the aggressor and he solicited the provocation.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
Exception 2 – Exceeding the Right of Private Defence:
• Under ‘General Exceptions’ a person has right of private defence
of person and property. This right under certain circumstances
even extends to causing death. This clause deals with the
situation where a person exceeds the right of private defence.
The factor of private defence reduces the gravity of offence from
murder to culpable homicide.
• Before this exception can be availed of, it has to be proved that
the accused had the right of private defence as given u/s 96-106
of IPC.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

 If a person genuinely exercises his right of private defence within

the prescribed limits, then he commits no offence. However, if
the person exceeds the right of private defence and causes death
of a person than it will amount to culpable homicide not
amounting to murder. The most important circumstances in
determining this factor is the intention of the offender.
 Eg: Z attempts to slap A. Here A takes out the gun and shoots Z
in private defence. Z dies in consequence. Here A has exceeded
his right of private defence and is guilty of culpable homicide not
amounting to murder.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 Onkarnath Singh vs State of UP (AIR 1974 SC 1550)

In this case, the deceased had initially attempted to attack the

accused. There was an incident of grappling between the parties.
When the deceased was fleeing, the accused made a murderous
assault and the victim died.

Here the Supreme Court held that the force used was out of all
proportion to the supposed danger, which no longer existed
from the deceased. So, the accused was neither entitled to a right
of private defence, nor to the benefit under exception 2 of sec 300.
Therefore, the accused was convicted for the offence of murder.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

Exception 3 – Public Servant Exceeding his Power

The ingredients of exception 3 are:
i. The offence must be committed by a public servant or by a
person aiding the public servant.
ii. The public servant commits the act in discharge of his official
duty.
iii. He should have exceeded the powers given to him by law.
iv. The act should be done in good faith.
v. The public servant should have believed that his act was lawful
and necessary for the due discharge of his duties.
vi. He should not have any ill-will towards the person whose death
was caused.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 Dakhi Singh vs State (AIR 1955 All 379)
In this case, a thief was arrested by a police constable and was being taken
in a train. The thief escaped from a running train. The constable pursued
him. When the constable was not in a position to arrest him, he fired at
him. But, in that process, the shot hit other person and he died.
Here the Supreme Court  referred to Section 46, Criminal Procedure
Code, which lays down that when a police officer arrests a person and
such person forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest him or attempts to
evade the arrest, such police officer may use all means necessary to effect
the arrest; but this does not give a right to cause the death of the person
unless he is accused of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment
for life. So the accused has exceeded his power and is covered under
exception 3 of sec 300 liable for culpable homicide not amounting
to murder.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

Exception 4 – Sudden Fight:

• Where the death is caused without premeditation in a sudden fight
and in the heat of anger than it is culpable homicide not
amounting to murder.
• Under this exception, the offender loses his power of reasoning
due to heat of passion aroused suddenly.
• The word sudden fight implies the absence of previous
deliberation or determination to fight.
• The word ‘fight’ conveys something more than a verbal quarrel. It
implies the exchange of blows.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder
 Narayanan Nair Raghavan Nair vs State of Travancore
(AIR 1956 SC 99)

In this case, there was a fight between the accused and one Velayuthan Nair.
The deceased came up to them and tried to separate them. Here
Velayuthan was the son-in-law of the deceased. The accused thereupon took
the knife from his waist and hit out at the deceased. The deceased tried to
ward off the blow and was hit in his left forearm. The accused struck again
and this time the blow landed on the chest and the person died. Here the
Court rejected the contentions of the accused and held that the accused had
stabbed an unarmed man who made no threats against him, but was merely
trying to stop the fight. The accused took undue advantage and stabbed
the deceased. So the Court held the accused guilty of Murder.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

Exception 5 – Consent:
Culpable Homicide is not Murder when;

i. The death was caused with the consent of the deceased.

ii. The deceased was then above 18 years of age.

iii. That such consent was free and voluntary and not given through
fear or misconception of facts.
 Culpable Homicide not amounting to
Murder

 Dasrath Paswan vs State of Bihar (AIR 1958 Patna 190)

In this case, the accused who was a student of tenth class, failed in
his examination thrice in succession. He was upset and frustrated
by this failures and decided to put an end to his life and informed
his wife. The wife thereupon requested him to kill her first and
then kill himself. So the accused killed his wife but was arrested
before he could end his life. Here the Court held that this case
comes under exception 5 of sec 300 and therefore convicted the
accused for culpable homicide.
 Distinction between Culpable
Homicide and Murder
 R vs Govinda (1876) ILR 1 Bombay 342
In this case, the accused knocked his wife down, put one knee on her chest, struck
her two-three violent blows on the face with a closed fist causing extravasation of
blood resulting in her death. Here the Court held the accused guilty of culpable
homicide not amounting to murder as there was no intention to cause death and
bodily injury was not sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
Here the Court had made certain distinction between culpable homicide and
murder. The difference between the two is only in degrees of intention and
knowledge. If the degree of intention and knowledge is greater than the case
would fall under murder. If it is a lesser degree of intention and knowledge than it
is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
 Distinction between Culpable
Homicide and Murder
 A practical approach to distinguish whether a particular case comes
under murder or culpable homicide is to appreciate the facts and
apply the law as follows:
1. The first stage is to determine whether the accused had done an
act, which has caused the death of another person.
2. The second stage is to establish whether the act of the accused
would amount to culpable homicide.
3. The next stage of enquiry is to ascertain whether the act would fall
under any of the four clauses of sec 300 of IPC.
4. The next stage is to determine whether the act falls within any of
the five exceptions provided u/s 300 of IPC. If it does not fall
under any of the exceptions than the act is murder. If the act falls
under any of the exceptions then it will be culpable homicide not
amounting to murder.