A, under the influence of passion excited by a provocation given by B, kills C intentionally. Has A committed any offence?

Question: A, under the influence of passion excited by a provocation given by B, kills C intentionally. Has A committed any offence? [UPHJS 2018 D.J.S. 1989, H.R.J.S. 1995(I) U.P.C.J. 2001]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [A, under the influence of passion excited by a provocation given by B, kills C intentionally. Has A committed any offence?]

Answer

The defence of grave and sudden provocation as used as an exception to section 300 of the code which provides that, the culpable homicide will not be murder, if, the offender, on account of a grave and sudden provocation, is deprived of his power of self-control and causes the death of a person. The person, whose death is caused, may be the person who gave the provocation or any other person by mistake or accident.

The exception is itself subject to three exceptions. Two relevant to the present facts are:

1. The provocation should not have been sought for voluntarily by the offender, as an excuse for killing or doing any harm to any person.
2. The provocation is not as a result of an act done in obedience to law or by the act of a public servant in the lawful exercise of his powers.
3. The provocation is not a result of anything done in the exercise of the right of private defence.

In order that this exception should apply, the provocation should be both grave and sudden. If the provocation is sudden but not grave, or grave but not sudden, then the offender cannot avail of the benefit of this exception. Further, it should also be shown that the provocation was of such a nature that the offender was deprived of the power of self-control.

In KM Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra the Supreme Court laid down the following postulates relating to the grave and sudden provocation:

1. The test of ‘grave and sudden’ provocation is whether a reasonable man, belonging to the same class of society as the accused, placed in the situation in which the accused was placed, would be so provoked as to lose his self-control.
2. In India, words and gestures may also, under certain circumstances, cause grave and sudden provocation to an accused, so as to bring his act within the first exception to section 300, IPC.
3. The mental background created by the previous act of the victim may be taken into consideration in ascertaining whether the subsequent act caused grave and sudden provocation for committing the offence.
4. The fatal blow should be clearly traced to the influence of passion arising from that provocation and not after the passion had cooled down by lapse of time, or otherwise giving room and scope for premeditation and calculation.

For example, A, under the influence of passion excited by a provocation given by Z, intentionally kills Y, Z’s child. This is murder, inasmuch as the provocation was not given by the child, and the death of the child was not caused by accident or misfortune in doing an act caused by the provocation.

The facts of the present case suggest that A, under the influence of passion excited by a provocation given by B, kills C intentionally. Here, A had killed C intentionally though the provocation caused by B is liable for the offence of murder of C and will not get the protection under the defence of grave and sudden provocation. Defence of exception is not given if the person commits the crime with full intention, thus he shall be liable for murder.

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