In Brief
This appeal challenges a High Court conviction of two men, Pooranlal and Gaya Prasad, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 IPC). The victim Hariya was attacked by five persons armed with sticks in 1990 and died 14 days later. While the trial court had acquitted all five, the High Court set aside the acquittal of the two appellants, finding them guilty based on the victim's dying declaration and FIR, which indicated a specific motive (an insult at a Panchayat meeting). The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, emphasizing that the post-mortem surgeon did not opine the injuries were fatal, the victim survived 14 days, and intention was only to teach a lesson, not to kill—hence conviction under Section 304 Part II, not murder, was proper.
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