What is Constitutional validity of Section 302 IPC?

Death sentence

Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code deals with ‘punishing the person who commits murder with the death penalty; imprisonment or fine’. The object of the punishment is to ensure that the offender does not repeat the offence especially in cases of grave offences. The death penalty is also called as the capital punishment. This is given in the rare of the rarest cases when the offence is extremely grave and the offenders can’t be forbidden by law.

The concept was introduced in 1980 in Bachchan Singh v. State of Punjab case, in the instant case the accused murdered three people and he was awarded death penalty. The concept of death penalty has always been in debate as it was contended that nobody has the right to take away life of a person.

Life imprisonment

Imprisonment is the simplest form of punishment that is given to the accused person, the quantum of punishment would be determined by the court based on the facts of the case. It could be simple imprisonment, life imprisonment, and rigorous imprisonment. Life imprisonment is given to a person for offences of great magnitude such as murder. Life imprisonment is not as gruesome as a death sentence but still has a drastic impact on the accused.

Imposition of Fine

Fine is generally used as an additional form of punishment. The court also imposes just fine when the offence is not very grave, but Section 302 deals with the punishment in case of a murder that is a grave offence and hence in such cases fine is always imposed in addition to the imprisonment. The quantum of the fine is to be decided by the court and it varies in each and every case.

Essential ingredients of murder

Section 302 does not make it clear when these punishments shall be imposed. But Section 300 of the IPC exhaustively deals with the ingredients of the offence that comprise of the following ingredients:

• There must be an intention to kill someone and cause death. For example, ‘X’ stabs Ý with a knife, with an intention to kill him. Ý dies, ‘X’ shall be charged with murder.
• Having an intention to cause bodily injury and it is likely to result in death.
• The act is done with a proper knowledge that the act will cause death, it is murder.

Jagmohan Singh: Case analysis

The concept of capital punishment was challenged in Jagmohan Singh v. State of U.P (1972). In this case, family quarrels cropped up between cousins which led to the death of Chottey Singh. Jagmohan Singh was charged with the offence of murder and sentenced to death u/s 302 of the IPC. The convicted was confirmed by the Allahabad High Court. An appeal was filed before the Supreme Court and it was contended that the punishment of death sentence u/s 302, is violative of certain fundamental rights enumerated under Article(s) 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court rejected the contentions raised by the appellant and made the following observations:

The general policy under the IPC and the CrPC is to impose maximum punishment for an offence especially when it is so grave, hence the Judges have vast powers to punish the offender. The Judge decide the punishment that is to be given after due analysis of the facts and circumstances of each case. It was concluded by the Court that the capital punishment is not in violation of Articles 14 or 21 of the Constitution and it has vast discretionary powers to decide the punishment when the offence is so grave, hence the contentions of the offender were rejected upfront by the Apex Court.

After this landmark judgment, the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 was replaced by the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973. It regulates the punishment of death sentences U/s 354(3) and 235(2).