In Brief
Four appellants were convicted of murder (Section 302 IPC) for assaulting a man with sticks and an axe during a land dispute, causing his death. The High Court upheld the conviction. The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal, accepting that the death was homicidally caused by the appellants but finding no premeditation. The incident arose from a quarrel over agricultural land possession, weapons used were ordinary farming tools, and the manner of attack showed no cruelty. The Court altered the conviction from Section 302 to Section 304 Part I IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), sentencing the appellants to the period already undergone (over 12 years)."
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