KIRTI KISHORE

14GSOL102023
SEMESTER – IV
INDIAN PENAL CODE-II

THE COMPLETE ANALYSIS BETWEEN MURDER (S.300) AND DOWRY

DEATH (S.304B)

SYNOPSIS

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

MURDER (SECTION- 300)

Except in the case hereinafter expected, Culpable Homicide is Murder, if the act by
which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing the death of the
person, or-

Secondly- If it is done with the intention of causing such type of bodily injury as the
offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm of
such injury is caused, or-

Thirdly-  If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the
bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to
cause death, or-

Fourthly-  If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous
that it must, in all probability, cause the death or such bodily injury as is likely to
cause death, and commits such act without any excuse for incurring the risk of
causing death or such injury as aforesaid.

Exception-1- When Culpable homicide is not a murder-

Culpable homicide is not a murder when the offender, whilst deprived of the power
of self-control by grave and sudden provocation, causes the death of the person who
gave the provocation or causes the death of any other person by mistake or accident.

The above exception is subject to the following provisos-

First- That the provocation is not sought or voluntarily provoked by the offender as
an excuse for killing. or doing harm to any person.
Secondly- That the provocation is not given by anything done in obedience to the
law, or by a public servant in the lawful exercise of the powers of such public
servant.

Exception 2- Culpable homicide is not murder if the offender, in the exercise of good
faith of the right of private defense of a person or property, exceeds the power given
to him by law and causes the death of that person against whom he is exercising such
right of defense without premeditation, and without any intention of doing more harm
than is necessary for the purpose of such defense.
Exception 3- Culpable homicide is not murder if the offender, being a public servant
or aiding. a public servant acting for the advancement of public justice, exceeds the
powers given to him by law, and causes death by doing an act which he, in good
faith, believes to be lawful and necessary for the due discharge of his duty as such
public servant and without ill-will towards the person whose death is caused.
Exception 4.- Culpable homicide is not murder if it is committed without
premeditation in a sudden fight in the heat of passion upon a sudden quarrel and
without the offender having taken undue advantage or acted in a cruel or unusual
manner.

Exception 5-  Culpable homicide is not murder when the person whose death is
caused, being above the age of eighteen years, suffers death or takes the risk of death
with his own consent.

DOWRY DEATH (SECTION 304 B)

(1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs
otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and
it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by
her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand
for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death”, and such husband or relative
shall be deemed to have caused her death. Explanation.—For the purpose of this
sub-section, “dowry” shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Dowry
Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961).
(2) Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for
life.

RESEARCH PROBLEM
 Section 304B and Section 300 shares the same core then how they are different
from each other?
 Which section is more broader amongst the specified section that is section 300
and section 304B?
 How section 300 and section 304B are similar?
 What kind of liabilities section 300 and section 304B shares?
 Is section 304 B is a kind of murder?

OBJECTIVE
The basic reasons for which the study has been planned to carry out are provided-
 Next crucial objective upon which this synopsis is mainly based on is to study
the extent, applicability and implication of provisions regarding the offences in
section 300 and section 304B
 Further it will be aimed that how far has the provision in section 300 and 304B
been effective.
 The study is also aimed at studying the punishments regarding these offences.

HYPOTHESIS
The above laid information in statement of problem has to do a lot about section 300
and section 304B. Well like an onion it has many many layers so what these sections
actually are? to do more deeper analysis it is necessary to go through some relevant
case laws regarding these two sections and it is also necessary to split them by
differentiating the two to do an overview analysis.
Section 304B ( Dowry Death)
 Section 304B basically deals with legal fiction..
 In dowry death the circumstances are to be proved
 The burden of proof in dowry death is very less.
 Section 304B is basically a strict liability offence.
Section 300 (Murder)
 Unlike section 304B section 300 deals with actual causation.
 In section 300 actual cause of death either by circumstance or direct.
 In section 300 the Burden of prove is much greater.
 There must be some kind of actus reus and mens rea on the part of offender to
be proved until then it will not be consider as a murder.
CASE LAWS
MURDER (S.300)

 Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab AIR1958SC465

In case of Virsa the offender gave 19 injuries to the victim resulted into the death of
the victim. it was held that the case is of murder as the intention to murder was
proved. The apex court also laid that intention as to suffenciency of injury is not
required and was also laid down that intention to cause particular injury is required.

 KM Nanavati v. State Of Maharastra AIR 1962SC605

The accused was a naval officer. He was married with three children one day his wife
confessed to him that she had developed intimacy with the deceased. Enraged at his,
the accused went to his ship , took a semi automatic revolver and 6 cartridges from
the store of the ship, went to the flat of the deceased, entered his bedroom and shot
him dead. Thereafter, the accused surrendered himself to the police. The question
before the supreme court was whether the act of the accused could be said to fall
within exception1 of section 300. The supreme court laid down the postulates relating
to grave and sudden provocation. The Supreme court held the accused, after his wife
confessed to her illicit relationship with the deceased, may have momentarily lost
control. In view of this, the court held that the provisions of exception 1 to s.300 were
not attracted. The accused was convicted for murder and sentenced to life
imprisonment.
 Emperor v. Dhirajia AIR1940ALL486
The accused husband beaten his wife by seeing imminent threat from her husband the
wife jumped into the well with her child resulted into the death of the child. In this
case the court considered that there is the existence of murder of the child as the
threat was only to the wife not to the child thus the wife held liable for the murder of
the child.
DOWRY DEATH ( 304 B )

 State of Himanchal Pradesh v. Nikku Ram ( 1995) CrLj4184(SC)

The couple was married on 6.2,1985. 5-6 months thereafter, it is alleged, that the
husband of deceased Roshani, named Nikku Ram, her mother- in-law Batholi Devi,
and sister-in-law Kamla Devi started taunting Roshani for bringing less dowry.
Demands for television, electric fan and buffalo etc. were made through Roshani,
which not having been fulfilled, the prosecution case, is that the aforesaid named
persons started treating Roshani with cruelty. The harassment gradually increased so
much so that on 20.6.1988 Batholi is alleged to have given a blow with drati (a sickle
like instrument) causing an incised wound on the forehead of Roshani. She being
unable to bear the torture etc., it is said, she consumed naphthalene balls which
proved fatal and she died on 20th June itself due to cardio- respiratory arrest. On
police being informed, investigation was taken, during the course of which a sickle
was recovered on the disclosure made by Batholi, Some letters written by Roshani to
her father also came into light. After completion of investigation the aforesaid
persons were challaned for offences under Sections 304-B, 306 and498-A IPC, in the
Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hamirpur. The first two offences being
exclusively triable by Court of Session, the accused persons were committed to stand
their trial before that Court.

 Kansraj v. State of Punjab AIR2000SC2324

Death of a women in her matrimonial house after three years of marriage. It was
found that the death was not under ordinary circumstances. Husband and other closed
relative were tried under section 304B all the accused were convicted for the offence
charged In the following case the court laid that there must be some time gap or
interval between death and cruelty does not exceed.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The work basically fulfills doctrinal research criteria as the possibility to have an
empirical study over the topic is very feeble. But the approach is analytical in nature.
The area of work is studied in depth Books, articles, journals, news blogs, case
studies and other such primary data's and internet sites have been searched and will
be searched at large to find out the relevant data's.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Here are some literature reviews that will illustrate that what isthe approach in this
research and what are the materials which have been searched for carrying on this
project work.
K.I. Vibhute, P S A Pillai's Criminal Law (LexisNexis, 12th Edn.,2014), is an epic
book of criminal law. It covers all the aspect of criminal law and provided with the
relevant information regarding section 300 and 304B of IPC.
Ratanlal , Dhirajlal, The Indian Penal Code ( Lexis Nexis; Thirty Third edition,
2012), is the book dealt with criminal book and considered to be the good source of
information regarding Section 300 and 304B. Of IPC. It basically consisted of
various case laws and judgements regarding this topic.