HC: Three minutes too little time to commit ‘cold-blooded’ murder

Kolkata: Three minutes were not enough to cool down the nerves to commit a premeditated murder, the Calcutta High Court held on Wednesday, reducing a charge of murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder for three persons—two bothers and one of their son— convicted to serve life 14 years ago for the murder of one of their brothers over who should take the responsibility of feeding their elderly parents.The division bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta held that the three-minute gap between the three leaving the house and returning with sharp weapons—bhojali, hasua and a rod and a stick, with a fork mounted on it— was "too short for a cold-blooded decision to murder a person". It was observed that the weapons were usually found in all rural homes and were not considered "murderous", and so, their use could not be called pre-meditated. During the attack, the deceased fell on a ‘boti', a curved blade used to cut vegetables, which the bench noted was also found at most homes.
In April 2011, six brothers called a meeting at their father Raham Box Sk's house to discuss who should take the responsibility of feeding their elderly parents. During the argument that ensued, three brothers and their nephew demanded that two brothers —the one killed and another grievously injured—relinquished the property received from their father if they were unwilling to take turns. At this point, the three convicts, Alimuddin Sk, Asish Sk and Alimuddin's son Shukur Ali Sk, left and returned after three minutes with the sharp weapons and attacked Ainuddin Sk and Kalimuddin Sk. A complaint was lodged against the brothers and their son and charges were framed against them. In 2012, a lower court convicted them of murder and sentenced them to life. The HC division bench observed this argument could have provoked the attack. The judges took the location of the injuries into account to ascertain the intention. The deceased suffered four injuries on his scalp and right lung. But the intensity of the injuries was not murderous, according to the post-mortem doctor, who deposed that the deceased might have survived had he been taken to the hospital early, the bench noted. The bench held the offence was culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the punishment for which was 10 years in jail. The HC said as the convicts had already served 14 years, they could be set free, if not wanted in any other offence.