In Brief
A dispute over an unrecorded pathway to agricultural fields escalated into a violent clash in a Rajasthan village. The accused were found to have hidden with lethal weapons and attacked the complainant party, fatally injuring Bhura Ram. The trial court convicted the accused for murder (Section 302, IPC). The High Court converted this to causing grievous hurt (Section 326) on the basis of claimed excessive private defence and reduced the sentence to the period undergone. The Supreme Court held that once an accused is proved to be the aggressor, the right of private defence is unavailable. The Court modified the conviction to Section 304 Part I (voluntarily causing death) and awarded 10 years' simple imprisonment with Rs. 50,000 compensation to the deceased's family.
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