Indian Penal Code Section 299 :- Culpable Homicide

by Legal Help in Hindi on October 16, 2020 in Culpable Homicide, Indian Penal Code Section 299, IPC, Section 299

Section 299 :- Culpable Homicide

Section 299 defines culpable homicide which is a wider offence than of murder:- Whoever causes death (a) by doing an act with intention of causing death, or (b) with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or (c) with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to death, commits the office of culpable homicide."

Illustrations

A lays sticks and turf over a pit, with the intention of therby causing death, or with the knowledge that death is likely to be therby caused. Z, believing the ground to be firm, falls in and is kikked. a has committed the offence of culpable homicide.
A knows Z to be behind a bush. B does not know it. A, intending to cause, or knowing it to be likely to cause Z's death, induces B to fire at the bush. B fires and kills Z. Here B be guilty of no offence, but A has committed the offence of culpable homicide.
A, by shooting at a foul with intent to kill and steal it, kills B, who is behind a bush; A not knowing that he was there. Here, although A was doing an unlawful act, he was not guilty of culpable homicide, as he did not intend to kill B, or to cause death by doing an act that he knew was likely to cause death.

Essential Ingredients of Sec 299

Whoever causes death - It is immaterial if the person whom the accused intended to kill was not killed but some other person. The death caould be caused by words deliberately used by a person. The death must result as a proximate and not a remote consequence of the act of violence. Where the victim died three weeks after the occurrence sue to negligence on his part and sepsis consequent to the bad handling of the wound, this section was held not attracted.
By doing an act with the intention of causing death - It is important to note that acts done extend to illegal omission also.

Intention is a question of fact which is to be gathered from the acts of the parties (viz nature of the weapon used, the part of the body on which the blow was given, the force and number of blows, etc). The legal maximim is that everyone must be presumed to intend the normal consequences of his act. Intention does not imply or assume the existence of some previous design, it means an actual intention, the existing intention of the moment.