Trial court convicted the accused with lesser sentence. We were going to Mirzapur from Lucknow by road. On the way to our destination we stopped near XX for dinner. On a very petty issue some dispute arose between us and the accused persons. They hurled abuses and threatened to kill. When the dispute became heated some other person intervened and separated us. They stopped abusing but one of them came with a club and attacked us. Then all the accused persons started beating us. Somehow I managed to escape from the spot but my friend (deceased) was caught by the accused persons.
They took the deceased in their car. After a few hours, the dead body of my friend was found in a nala. Deceased sustained several injuries on his head, neck, chest, face, lower abdomen, back and legs. Post mortem was done and cause of death was antemortem injuries and homicide. FIR was lodged and charge sheet was filed in 302, 307, 201, 34 IPC. The trial court convicted the accused under Section 304 IPC and sentenced him for three years. It is miscarriage of justice. Please suggest what to do?
Asked from: Uttar Pradesh
It appears from the facts of the case that the sentence for culpable homicide under Section 304 IPC is improper and erroneous. Sentence is lesser than the offence committed by the accused. It was a cold blood murder. No doubt that the accused had the intention to kill the deceased.
You should immediately file an appeal to the high court under section 372 of the code of criminal procedure (crpc). Section 372 crpc empowers the victim to prefer against the conviction if he is aggrieved from the amount of sentence.
No appeal shall lie from any judgment or order of a Criminal Court except as provided for by this Code or by any other law for the time being in force.
Provided that the victim shall have a right to prefer an appeal against any order passed by the Court acquitting the accused or convicting for a lesser offence or imposing inadequate compensation, and such appeal shall lie to the Court to which an appeal ordinarily lies against the order of conviction of such Court.
Section 372 of the code of criminal procedure
The analogy drawn by the trial court that the accused had no intention to kill has not been supported by the evidence. As per the facts of your case, the dispute was started on a very petty issue. You all were unknown to each other. There was no previous enmity. After intervention of some other people the accused were stopped hurling abuses but they caught the deceased and put him in car and after few hours his dead body was found.
The deceased was lastly seen with the accused, deceased sustained several injuries were cumulatively sufficient to cause death. The burden of proof was sifted on the accused to explain how the deceased sustained those injuries? I think that the accused failed to discharge that burden of proof.
Accused were beaten mercilessly by the deceased mercilessly and because of those fatal injuries your friend died. The nature and number of injuries itself proves that it was a cold blood murder and the accused were intended to kill the deceased.
There was no sudden provocation from the deceased. Deceased was not killen in a spur of the moment. The accused carried the deceased in their car and brutally beat him until his death. It proves that they had the intention to kill.
The sentence is insufficient and not in the appropriation of the offence committed by the accused. This is indeed a miscarriage of justice. You should file an appeal and the appellate court definitely convert the sentence into Section 302 IPC instead of Section 304 IPC. Trial court convicted the accused with lesser sentence in misappreciation of evidence could be a good ground for appeal. For more legal help please visit Kanoon India.
