A, without any excuse, fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills B, one of them. He had no premeditated design to kill B. What offense, if any, is committed by A?

Question: A, without any excuse, fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills B, one of them. He had no premeditated design to kill B. What offense, if any, is committed by A? [R.J.S. 1984, UPCJ 1997]

Find the answer to the mains question only on Legal Bites. [A, without any excuse, fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills B, one of them. He had no premeditated design to kill B. What offense, if any, is committed by A?]

Answer

A without any excuse fires loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills one of them. A is guilty of murder, although he may not have had a premeditated design to kill any particular individual.

Section 300, IPC deals with the offense of Murder.— Except in the cases hereinafter excepted, culpable homicide is murder, if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or—

Secondly—If it is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused, or—

Thirdly—If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person, and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, or—

Fourthly—If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid.

Culpable homicide is murder, if it is done with:

1. intention to cause death; or
2. intention to cause bodily injury knowing that the injury caused is likely to cause death, or
3. the intention of causing bodily injury sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, or
4. the knowledge that the act is:
   1. imminently dangerous that in all probability it will cause death or bodily injury which is likely to cause death, and
   2. done without any justification for incurring the risk of causing death or injury.

Therefore, based on the above provision of section 300, IPC it is clear that even though A had no premeditated design to kill B, his acts speaks for itself when A, without any excuse, fires a loaded cannon into a crowd of persons and kills B, one of them. So, A will be held liable for committing the murder of B.

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