Culpable homicide & Murder

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Section 299 and Section 300 of the Penal Code deal with the offencing culpable homicide not amounting to murder and murder. Under the Mohammedan system there were three kinds of punishment namely relation, defined punishment and discretionary punishment and the entire administration was entrusted to Kazi, resulting in the punishment and the entire motion of each Kazi. When the British assumed power the need for uniform criminal law was felt necessary and the result of their labours is the present Penal Code. Offences affecting life are contained in section 299 to 311. The other offences depending upon the injury caused fall under section 312to 376 of the Penal Code.

We shall be now considering regarding homicide to explain very clearly culpable homicide and murder. The termed homicide is used to describe the killing of a human being by a human being. Such a killing may be lawful or it may be unlawful and criminal. Unlawful homicide includes murder, manslaughter causing death by dangerous driving, killing in pursuance of suicide pact and infanticide. Homicide is the killing of a human being by a human being .Homicide may be lawful or unlawful. Lawful homicide may again be classified under the heads (a) excusable homicide and (b) justifiable homicide; and unlawful homicide may be classified as (1)culpable homicide not amounting to murder,(2) murder (3) suicide and (4) homicide by rash and negligent acts not culpable.

Culpable homicide:
According to the section 299of the Penal Code “whoever cause death by doing an act with the intention of causing death or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with commits the offence of culpable homicide”


(a)A lays sticks and turf over a pit, with the intention of thereby causing death or with the knowledge that death is likely to be there by caused. Z believing the ground to be firm, treads on it, falls in and is killed. A has committed the offence of culpable homicide.

(b)A knows Z to be behind a bush. B does not know it A, intending to cause or knowing it to be likely to cause Z’s death, induces b to fire at the bush .B fires and kills Z. here b may be guilty of no offence: but a has committed the offence of culpable homicide.

(c)A, by shooting at fowl with intent to kill and steal it, kill and steal it , kills B who is behind a bush; A not intent ending that he was there. Here, although A was doing an unlawful act, he was not guilty of culpable homicide ,as he did not intend to kill B, or to cause death by doing an act that he knew was likely to cause death.

(1) A person who causes bodily injury to another, who is labouring under a disorder, disease or bodily infirmity and thereby accelerates the death of that other, shall be deemed to have caused his death. (2) Where death is caused by bodily injury, the person who caused such bodily injury shall be deemed to have caused the death although by resorting to proper remedies and skilful treatment the death might have been prevented. (3) The causing of the death of child in the mothers womb is not homicide. But it may amount to culpable homicide to cause the death of living child, if any part of that child has been brought forth the child may not have breathed or been completely born.

Sir Edward Coke refers that “Murder is when a man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully killeth with any country of the realm any reasonable creature in rerum nature under the Kings peace with malice aforethought either expressed by the party or implied by law, so as the party wounded or hurt etc die of the wound etc within a year and a year after the same”

So we can say that for the purpose of...
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