The Bombay High Court has enhanced the conviction from culpable homicide to murder of two brothers for stabbing to death their step-uncle following a dispute over water, after observing that the duo had attacked the victim with a specific intention.
The Aurangabad bench of the High Court also enhanced the sentence awarded to the two convicts - Nasibkha Shabbir Khan (22) and Asifkha Shabbir Khan (24) - from ten years to life imprisonment.
The sessions court had convicted the duo on a lesser charge of section 304(II) of IPC for culpable homicide and sentenced them to ten years' rigorous imprisonment for the murder of their step-uncle Sardarkha Khan.
A division bench of Justices K U Chandiwal and V M Deshpande, however, quashed the conviction under culpable homicide and held the duo guilty under section 302 of IPC for murder and enhanced their punishment to life imprisonment.
The accused persons and the deceased were into agriculture business of adjacent lands. They shared a common well and each party used water from it on alternate days.
According to prosecution, on October 21, 2010, the accused asked another step-uncle Kalekha Khan if they can use water from the well for two days. When Kalekha refused, a verbal feud ensued. Sardarkha intervened and stopped the fight following which the two convicts left the place.
However, they came back after ten minutes and caught hold of Sardarkha and stabbed him to death with a knife.
"This act on the part of accused clearly establishes that with premeditation they returned to the spot. They returned to the spot with a specific intention. Further, from the evidence, it is clear that on reaching to the spot, they immediately caught Sardarkha and gave knife blow," the High Court said.
"This fact clearly establishes that both the accused were nursing grudge against the deceased, because at the first instance it was the deceased who rescued Kalekha from the quarrel with them. Once intention is established, there is no escape but to record a finding of guilt against the accused for having committed the offence under section 302 of IPC," the court said in a recent order.
