NEW DELHI: It is natural for a young man to be emotionally upset to see his sister ill-treated by her in-laws, observed the Supreme Court while modifying the jail sentence of a man, accused under IPC Section 304.
A two-judge bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan recently modified the sentence of an accused under Section 304 (Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC to the period already undergone by him.
“In so far Hussainbhai Asgarali Lokhandwala (convict) is concerned, what is discernible from the record is that he was a young man aged 18 years, studying in Class 12, at the time of the incident. There was a history of matrimonial dispute between his sister and brother-in-law Abbasbhai. It is natural for a young man to be emotionally upset to see his sister allegedly ill-treated by her in-laws and when the deceased and Abbasbhai came to their residence leading to a ruckus, it is not difficult to visualise the state of mind of Hussainbhai and his father Asgarali,” the court said.
The bench remarked that much water has flown under the bridge, and the unfortunate incident leading to the loss of a precious life and sustaining of injuries by a couple of others had happened in a spur of the moment. Advocate Nikhil Goel appeared for the accused, Senior advocate Archana Pathak Dave for the state, and Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora for the informant.
As a young man, the appellant was overcome by emotion, which led him to physically attack the deceased and his son (brother-in-law), it added.
The court partly allowed the appeal, maintained the conviction of the appellant under Section 304 of the IPC and modified the sentence to the period already undergone by him.
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