In Brief
The State of Uttar Pradesh appealed against a High Court judgment that reduced the respondent's conviction from murder (Section 302 IPC) to culpable homicide (Section 304 IPC) based on provocation. The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in applying the provocation exception. The respondent harboured a prior grudge against the deceased based on suspicion about the deceased's interest in his wife. When the deceased merely arrived at a panchayat (village council) meeting, the respondent shot him without any overt provocation. The Court ruled that voluntary, self-induced suspicion cannot constitute grave and sudden provocation under the First Proviso to Exception I of Section 300 IPC. The conviction under Section 302 was restored and the respondent directed to surrender to serve the remaining life sentence."
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