In Brief
Ashok Saxena was convicted of murdering a woman during a clash in 1992. Though he intended to harm someone else (her husband), she intervened and was fatally stabbed. The Supreme Court applied the doctrine of transfer of malice—when someone intends harm to one person but kills another, the intention transfers to the actual victim. However, the Court found the circumstances fell within a statutory exception to murder, downgrading the conviction to culpable homicide under Section 304 Part-I IPC. The sentence was reduced to time already served, considering the appellant's age (74) and the three decades elapsed since the incident.
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