Supreme Court Converts Murder Conviction to Section 304 Part I Culpable Homicide – Nandkumar v. State of Gujarat (2025)

Case Name: Nandkumar @ Nandu Manilal Mudaliar v. State of Gujarat
Citation: Criminal Appeal No. 1266 of 2014; 2025 INSC 1302
Date of Judgment/Order: 10 November 2025
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Hon’ble Mr. Justice N.V. Anjaria

Held: The Supreme Court held that the appellant’s act did not constitute murder under Section 302 IPC but amounted to culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 Part I. The Court observed that although the stab wounds inflicted were serious and sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, the incident occurred suddenly during a quarrel, in a state of anger and without premeditation or intention to kill. The Court noted that the deceased died thirteen days later due to septicemia and that the circumstances demonstrated knowledge but not intention, thereby requiring conversion of the conviction from Section 302 to Section 304 Part I.

Summary: The case arose from a 1998 incident where the appellant, following an earlier quarrel involving his nephew, went to the deceased’s house late at night, abused him, and inflicted knife injuries on the abdomen, hand, and small intestine. The injured victim was treated and discharged but later died due to septicemia. The Trial Court convicted the appellant under Section 302 IPC, and the High Court affirmed the conviction, relying on the eyewitness testimony of the deceased’s sister (PW2) and nephew (PW4), supported by medical evidence from PW8. Before the Supreme Court, it was argued that both eyewitnesses were related, that the death occurred much later due to septic complications, and that at most the case fell under Section 304 IPC. Examining the nature of injuries, sequence of events, lack of premeditation, impulse-driven conduct, and the medical evidence linking death to septicemia after nearly two weeks, the Court applied precedents such as Kesar Singh, Virsa Singh, and Shankar Narayan Bhadolkar to conclude that the case involved knowledge of likely consequences but no intention to cause death.

Decision: The Supreme Court converted the conviction from Section 302 IPC to Section 304 Part I IPC, holding that the incident reflected culpable homicide not amounting to murder. It noted that the appellant had already undergone more than 14 years of imprisonment and had been enlarged on bail since 2014; therefore, the period already undergone was treated as sufficient to meet the ends of justice. The Court set aside the sentence under Section 302 IPC, affirmed conviction under Section 304 Part I IPC, discharged the appellant’s bail bonds, and allowed the appeal to that extent.