Kerala HC quotes Shakespeare’s Othello, gives life imprisonment along with a fine to man who killed wife
The Kerala High Court quoted Shakespeare’s Othello, gives life imprisonment along with a fine to the man who killed wife.
Background
The accused, Rasheed, was working as Manager in a plywood company owned by the deceased, Noushad. Infidelity on the part of his wife predominated the mind of the accused and he suspected an illicit relationship by and between herself and the deceased, manifested by their frequent contacts over telephone. Out of this enmity, the accused, with the intention of doing away with the deceased, rammed his Maruti Ritz car in the white bullet motor bike driven by the deceased at Kayyanippadi, Rayamanglam Panchayat. The deceased initially fell down on the windshield of the offending car and thereafter, to the road margin on the southern side. The accused got out of the car, with a knife on his hand, and stabbed the deceased on his neck thrice, inflicting fatal injuries, to which the deceased succumbed, thus committing offenses under Sections 302 and 506(1) of the Penal Code.
Arguments
Advocate P.Vijayabhanu, appearing for the appellant/victim, contended that the Sessions Judge had gone off tangent and turned a Nelson’s eye to the legally recognisable evidence adduced by the prosecution, including that of an eye witness.
The counsel for the respondent/accused supported the judgment in all respects, while submitting that the prosecution had failed to establish the guilt of the accused, beyond reasonable doubt. His presence in the scene of occurrence was not identified/spoken to by any witness.
Decision
The division bench of Justice K.Vinod Chandran and Justice C.Jayachandran noted that the evidence tendered by Prosecution witnesses inspire abundant confidence in the mind of the court. There is no serious infirmity in the evidence of Prosecution witnesses, so as to disbelieve him. As already indicated, a witness cannot be branded as reliable or unreliable solely on the basis of his response/reaction upon witnessing the incident.
The court set aside the impugned judgment of acquittal and found that the accused is guilty of having caused the death of the deceased, attracting the offense under Section 300 of the Penal Code.
The court stated that the accused, severed and rammed the car deliberately on the motorcycle of the deceased, coming from the opposite direction, where after, the deceased was stabbed thrice on his neck by MO1 knife.
The court further noted that the accused is driven by a definite intention to finish off the deceased; though there is discernible no apparent motive. The offense attracted is nothing but the one under Section 300, since the act does not fall under any of the exceptions to the offense under Section 300.
The court was not of the opinion that the facts of the instant case would fit into the category of the rarest of the rare cases, warranting death penalty.
The court imposed the punishment of imprisonment for life, as also, a fine of Rs.2,00,000/- to be paid to the wife and children of the deceased as compensation.
Case title: Alli Noushad v/s Rasheed and Ors.
Citation: CRA(V) NO. 17 OF 2019
