In Brief
Khuman Singh was convicted of murdering a man by striking him with an axe, causing death. The Supreme Court examined whether this constituted murder (Section 302 IPC) or culpable homicide (Section 304 IPC), and whether the attack was motivated by the victim's Scheduled Caste status. Finding the incident arose suddenly during a quarrel without premeditation, the Court modified the murder conviction to culpable homicide. The conviction under the SC/ST Atrocities Act was set aside as the evidence did not establish the attack was motivated by caste. The appeal was partly allowed.
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