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2023 (1) TMI 1306
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..... Though the act of Hamlet does constitute a culpable homicide coming within the definition of Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 an act of unsound mind would not attract the same. Through these lines, Shakespeare brings out the agony of a man having to justify his act of madness. 2. Raising the plea of insanity on the mandate of Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter 'the IPC'), the Appellant seeks reversal of the order of conviction passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, confirming the order of the Additional Sessions Judge, S.G. Margao-II. As we are dealing with the seminal issue of applicability of Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code and in the light of the focus made by the counsel for the Appellant, we do not propose to go into the merits. 3. We have heard Shri Aftab Ali Khan, the counsel appointed from the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. SECTION 84 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 84. Act of a person of unsound mind. - Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he is doing....
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....hra v. State of Jharkhand (2011) 11 SCC 495 11. In our opinion, an Accused who seeks exoneration from liability of an act Under Section 84 of the Penal Code is to prove legal insanity and not medical insanity. Expression "unsoundness of mind" has not been defined in the Penal Code and it has mainly been treated as equivalent to insanity. But the term "insanity" carries different meaning in different contexts and describes varying degrees of mental disorder. Every person who is suffering from mental disease is not ipso facto exempted from criminal liability. The mere fact that the Accused is conceited, odd, irascible and his brain is not quite all right, or that the physical and mental ailments from which he suffered had rendered his intellect weak and affected his emotions or indulges in certain unusual acts, or had fits of insanity at short intervals or that he was subject to epileptic fits and there was abnormal behaviour or the behaviour is queer are not sufficient to attract the application of Section 84 of the Penal Code. * Hari Singh Gond v. State of Madhya Pradesh (2008) 16 SCC 109 10. 7. Section 84 lays down the legal test of responsibility in cas....
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....ocination are sufficiently dim to apprehend what he is doing, he must always be presumed to intend the consequence of the action he takes... Section 105 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872 105. Burden of proving that case of Accused comes within exceptions. --When a person is Accused of any offence, the burden of proving the existence of circumstances bringing the case within any of the General Exceptions in the Indian Penal Code, (45 of 1860), or within any special exception or proviso contained in any other part of the same Code, or in any law defining the offence, is upon him, and the Court shall presume the absence of such circumstances. 8. The burden of proof does lie on the Accused to prove to the satisfaction of the Court that one is insane while doing the act prohibited by law. Such a burden gets discharged based on a prima facie case and reasonable materials produced on his behalf. The extent of probability is one of preponderance. This is for the reason that a person of unsound mind is not expected to prove his insanity beyond a reasonable doubt. Secondly, it is the collective responsibility of the person concerned, the Court and the prosecution to deciph....
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....ced before the court by the Accused or by the prosecution may raise a reasonable doubt in the mind of the court as regards one or more of the ingredients of the offence, including mens rea of the Accused and in that case the court would be entitled to acquit the Accused on the ground that the general burden of proof resting on the prosecution was not discharged. 13. This Court in the case of Bapu (supra) has held that: 8....The onus of proving unsoundness of mind is on the Accused. But where during the investigation previous history of insanity is revealed, it is the duty of an honest investigator to subject the Accused to a medical examination and place that evidence before the court and if this is not done, it creates a serious infirmity in the prosecution case and the benefit of doubt has to be given to the Accused. The onus, however, has to be discharged by producing evidence as to the conduct of the Accused shortly prior to the offence and his conduct at the time or immediately afterwards, also by evidence of his mental condition and other relevant factors. xxx xxx xxx 12. Mere abnormality of mind or partial delusion, irresistible impulse or compu....
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....nity and not medical insanity, as observed in State of Rajasthan v. Shera Ram (2012) 1 SCC 602: (2012) 1 SCC (Cri) 406, as follows: (Shera Ram, SCC p. 614, para 19) 19...Once, a person is found to be suffering from mental disorder or mental deficiency, which takes within its ambit hallucinations, dementia, loss of memory and self-control, at all relevant times by way of appropriate documentary and oral evidence, the person concerned would be entitled to seek resort to the general exceptions from criminal liability. 12. The crucial point of time for considering the defence plea of unsoundness of mind has to be with regard to the mental state of the Accused at the time the offence was committed collated from evidence of conduct which preceded, attended and followed the crime as observed in Ratan Lal v. State of M.P. (1970) 3 SCC 533: 1971 SCC (Cri) 139, as follows: (SCC pp. 533-34, para 2) 2. It is now well settled that the crucial point of time at which unsoundness of mind should be established is the time when the crime is actually committed and the burden of proving this lies on the Accused. In Dahyabhai Chhaganbhai Thakkar v. State of Gujarat (1964) 7 S....
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....r Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code. If a friendly approach is required to be followed during the trial, when adequate powers have been conferred upon the Court to even discharge an Accused on the ground of an unsound mind, the same reasoning will have to be applied with much force when it comes to Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code. 18. We find adequate materials on the assessment and evaluation of legal and medical insanity, which are totally different from each other. We shall furnish the following relevant material on medical jurisprudence: Jaisingh P. Modi, A Textbook on Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, 26th Edn. 2018, pg. 938 Ascertainment of Mental Illness: Clinical assessment and Questions that would require to be addressed. -Forensic psychiatry attempts to help Courts determine the mental condition of the Accused to determine whether the person could have intended to commit the crime and whether he is in a fit state to stand the trial. Medical insanity and legal insanity are not necessarily congruent. A mental illness that requires institutional care or administration of therapeutic care for medical insanity may not still be sufficient insulate....
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.... bearing on limiting responsibility if not completely exonerating him from the offence charged with. The role of the expert is not to present legal conclusions or formal psychopathological diagnoses. Rather, the role of examiner, as expert, is to import state of-the-art/science knowledge about the existence of various psychopathological conditions and their relationship to various behavioural, perceptual, cognitive and judgmental capacities into the legal/moral decisional process. SCHIZOPHRENIA 19. Now, we shall come to the mental illness caused by Schizophrenia. We do not wish to go into the said issue as it being one within the exclusive knowledge of the experts, except to quote the relevant text available: * Jaisingh P. Modi, a textbook on Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, 26th Edn. 2018, pg. 922 (ii) Schizophrenia. -Kraepelin (Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist.), in 1896, named this disease as 'dementia praecox'. In 1911, Eugen Bleuler (Paul Eugen Bleuler, Swiss psychiatrist and Eugenicist.) introduced the term 'schizophrenia' which literally means disintegration of mind. The term dementia praecox was changed because it implied that....
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....by PW2. He took the material object and came out of the shop and went to the bus stand. Thereafter, he came back to the shop and left it there. He once again walked to the bus stand and was sitting on a chair. He neither moved away from the said place nor made any attempt to leave. 22. A treatment was indeed given to him at the GMC Hospital, Bhiwani in the State of Haryana prior to the occurrence. He was taken as an in-patient for a period from 17.11.2003 till 26.11.2003. He was suffering from anxiety neurosis with reactive depression and had symptoms of acid peptic disease and mild hypertension. The treatment given to him was akin to one meant for schizophrenia. Accordingly, he was prescribed the medicine 'Thioril'. 23. Before the Court of Sessions, an application Under Section 329 of Code of Criminal Procedure was filed on behalf of the Appellant. Even while considering the application for bail, the Court noticed the inability of the Appellant to understand the ongoing proceedings. Two doctors were examined as AWs 1 and 2, for the fact that he was indeed suffering from schizophrenia. AW2 was examined to show that he was taking the treatment earlier at GMC Hospital a....