STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH versus RAM PRASAD

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH versus RAM PRASAD

Pouring kerosene on a person’s clothes and setting them on fire is an act so imminently dangerous that the actor must have known it was likely to cause death or bodily injury likely to cause death; having no excuse for incurring that risk, the act falls within clause fourthly of section 300 IPC and amounts to murder, warranting conviction under section 302 IPC and life imprisonment; additionally, when the State appeals against acquittal for a major offence, the accused should be given an opportunity to show he was not guilty of even the lesser offence.

Parties
Appellant: State of Madhya Pradesh; Respondent: Ram Prasad
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
04 December 1967
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal by Special Leave / Appeal to Supreme Court (final Judgment)
Outcome
Appeal allowed; conviction under section 304 Part II set aside and substituted with conviction under section 302 IPC; sentence of imprisonment for life imposed.
Legal Topics
Murder, Culpable Homicide, Section 300 IPC (fourthly), Section 302 IPC, Section 304 Part II IPC, Dying Declaration, Appeal Against Acquittal
Criminal Law Indian Penal Code Murder Culpable Homicide Section 300 IPC (fourthly) Section 302 IPC Section 304 Part II IPC Dying Declaration +1 more

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Parties

State of Madhya Pradesh

Appellant

Ram Prasad

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Criminal Appeal by Special Leave / Appeal to Supreme Court (final Judgment)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the act of pouring kerosene on a person’s clothes and setting them on fire falls under section 300 fourthly IPC (murder) or a lesser offence
  2. 2 Whether the Supreme Court, on an appeal by the State against acquittal for a major offence, should allow the accused an opportunity to prove innocence of the lesser offence
  3. 3 Whether evidence (dying declarations and eyewitnesses) established commission of the act by the accused

Ratio Decidendi

Pouring kerosene on a person’s clothes and setting them on fire is an act so imminently dangerous that the actor must have known it was likely to cause death or bodily injury likely to cause death; having no excuse for incurring that risk, the act falls within clause fourthly of section 300 IPC and amounts to murder, warranting conviction under section 302 IPC and life imprisonment; additionally, when the State appeals against acquittal for a major offence, the accused should be given an opportunity to show he was not guilty of even the lesser offence.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed; conviction under section 304 Part II set aside and substituted with conviction under section 302 IPC; sentence of imprisonment for life imposed.

Orders

  • Conviction under section 304 Part II of the Indian Penal Code set aside.
  • Conviction under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code substituted in place of the conviction under section 304 Part II.