Bombay High Court Upholds Acquittal In Murder Case After Man Proves Mental Illness

The Bombay High Court has upheld the acquittal of a 56-year-old accused in a murder case, after he was able to prove that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the crime and was unable to understand that his act was unlawful.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Milind Jadhav acquitted Dhananjay Pore and his mother Shakuntala on Thursday. The detailed order was made available on Saturday.

The sessions court had, on May 29, 2003, acquitted Pore, while observing that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, following which the state government challenged the lower court's order in the High Court.

The High Court bench, its order, noted, “In our opinion, (Pore) has succeeded in proving his defence of insanity and more specifically, legal insanity at the time of committing the act." "Overall, the circumstances undeniably lead to the conclusion that the Respondent No. 1 (Pore) was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia (mental illness) and did not realise the nature and consequences of his act at the time of commission," it added.

According to the prosecution, Pore and the victim Padmakar would sell groceries and coconuts near a local temple, and the two had a quarrel regarding sale of coconuts, after which Pore's business was adversely affected.

On July 22, 2002, Padmakar had gone on a motorcycle to pick up his wife Alka and nephew Shivkumar. At the time, Pore's mother met Alka and when she sat on the two-wheeler with her nephew, Pore jabbed a knife into Padmakar's throat.

When the victim started running, the accused caught hold of him, pinned him down and stabbed him in the chest and hands.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead.

The police arrested Pore and his mother, alleging that she had signalled him to proceed towards Padmakar.

Defence counsel Rui Danawala argued that Pore had been suffering from a mental illness since over 10 years prior to the incident and was under medical treatment.

Danawala further stated that the condition was hereditary and Pore's father had also suffered from the illness before his death in 1997.

The defence examined three neighbours and four doctors, who were treating Pore.

Upholding the acquittal of Pore's mother, the High Court noted that there was no evidence whatsoever brought on record to implicate her of the charges.

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