XIX NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION-2018

XIX NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION - 2018

IN THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

IN THE MATTER OF

MRS. SRIPAKSHI

(APPELANT)

V.

STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

(RESPONDENT)

MEMORANDUM ON BEHALF OF APPELANT

ON SUBMISSION TO THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

MEMORANDUM ON BEHALF OF APPELANT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………….
ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………... 3

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES…………………………………………………………
AUTHORITIES………………………………………………………… .5

BOOKS………………………………………………………………………
BOOKS……………………………………………………………………… ..5

JUDICIAL DECISIONS………………………………………………………
DECISIONS……………………………………………………… 5

STATUTES……………………………………………………………………6
STATUTES……………………………………………………………………6

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION……………………………………………….....7
JURISDICTION……………………………………………….....7

STATEMENT OF FACTS……………………………………………………………8
FACTS……………………………………………………………8

ISSUES RAISED…………………………………………………………………..…12

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS……………………………………………………..13
ARGUMENTS……………………………………………………..13

ARGUMENTS ADVANCED………………………………………………………..15
ADVANCED………………………………………………………..15

ISSUE ONE…………………………………………………………………...15
ONE…………………………………………………………………...15

i.

ISSUE TWO…………………………………………………………………..20
TWO…………………………………………………………………..20

ISSUE THREE………………………………………………………………..24
THREE………………………………………………………………..24

PRAYER ………………………………………………………………………………27
………………………………………………………………………………27

MEMORANDUM ON BEHALF OF APPELANT

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TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

& : And

AIR : All India Report

Anr. : Another

CrLJ : Criminal Law journal

CrPC : Code of Criminal Procedure

Ed. : Edition

Fact sheet : Statement of Facts, 19th National Moot Court Competition problem

Hon’ ble : Honorable

IPC : Indian Penal Code

Ors. : Others

P.M. : Post Meridiem

Para : Paragraph

SC : Supreme Court

SCC : Supreme Court Cases

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SCR : Supreme Court Reports

V. : Versus

Vs. : Versus

Vol. : Volume

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INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

BOOKS AND DIGEST

 K.D. Gaur Textbook on Indian Penal Code, 1860, 6th Edition, Universal Law Publishing

Company.

 Sarkar’s Commentary on The Indian Penal Code, 1860, 3rd Ed. In 4 Volumes, Dwivedi

Law Agency.

 K.D. Gaur Commentary on the Indian Penal Code, 1860, 2nd Edition, Foreword by Justice

P.V. Reddi, Universal Law Publishing Company.

 Ram Jethmalani & D.S. Chopra Commentary on the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Vol.-II

 Ratanlal & Dhirajlal Commentary on the Indian Penal C ode, 1860, Justice K T Thomas

& MA Rashid, 33rd Edition, LexisNexis.

 Sarkar The code of Criminal procedure, SC Sarkar, 11th Edition, LexisNexis.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

 Alister Antony Pareira v. State of Maharashtra, (2012) 2 SCC 648

 Ayanmar v. State of Tamil Nadu

 Babulal v. State, 1961 AIR 884, 1961 SCR (3) 423

 Boya Manigadu v. The Queen, ILR 3 MAD 3

 Brijlalapd Sinha v. State of Bihar, (1998) 5 SCC 699

 Indra dev v. State of U.P, 1991 CRLJ 2598(II)

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 In Re C Narayan, 1958 CriLJ 476

 Jai Prakash v. State, 1991 2 SCC 32

  Nirbhay Singh & Anr. vs The State of Madhya Pradesh, (1972 CrLJ 1474 MP)

 R v. Marth, (2001) EWCA Crim 2245(CA)

 Sayambakkani v. state of Tamil Nadu, 1974 AIR 2271, 1975 SCR (2) 356

 State of U.P v Lakhmi, 1998 (4) SCC 336

 X v. State of NCT of Delhi, CRL A 1308/2015 & CRL M (B) 8293/2015

STATUTES

 The Indian Penal Code, 1860

 The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

 Mental Health Care Act, 2017

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injuries, neither Sripakshi made any other attempt nor, she pushed her. So, it is a mere

unfortunate accident, not a culpable homicide and therefore, the judgement by high court is

not justified.

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ISSUE-2: THE RESPONDENT IS OF UNSOUND MIND AND THEREFORE FALLS

WITHIN THE AMBIT OF SECTION-84 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE

1) It is humbly submitted by the counsel on behalf of the appellant that the act of the accused falls

within the ambit of Section-84 of IPC. The appellant, according to the facts of the case, was

suffering from Depression and was in no condition to take reasonable decisions. The act of

lurching the knife by the appellant at the deceased during the heated argument was totally

 because of her threat of Virupakshi calling the police and accusing her of theft she didn’t

commit.

2) The appellant immediately regretted her action as we can see from the facts, she was crying

inconsolably when she met Virupakshi’s husband and ran away frightfully within a span of

two minutes. Her actions do not seem to be reasonable enough which constitutes the fact that

her depression caused her to act in this unreasonable manner, which is clearly out of her

character and which caused this unfortunate death of Virupakshi without any intention of

causing such on part of the appellant.

3) Section-84 of IPC deals with the acts of a person who is of unsound mind. According to the

section- “Act of a person of -unsound mind:  Nothing is an offence which is done by a person

who, at the time of doing it, by reason of, unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the

nature of the act, or that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law .”

2.1. THE RESPONDENT WAS SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION

4) The respondent was suffering from Depression due to the downfall in her husband’s business

and the financial crisis because of that. Mrs. Virupakshi knew this fact and in order to lift her

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spirits, they went to the resort.10 So, when she came to know about the fact that Virupakshi is

suspecting her of stealing those jewelleries, she was heartbroken and it also invoked her

depressing mind. When, she went to Virupakshi’s house, Virupakshi threatened her to call the

 police if she doesn’t return the jewellery, which hammered the last nail in the coffin.

2.1.1. Depression also comes within the ambit of the definition of unsound mind

5) The counsel hereby submits that depression contemplates a situation where the person

committing the crime may not at the time of such commission of crime, be aware of what he

is doing. Therefore, the respondent, Sripakshi, who was suffering from Depression for a long

 period, is entitled to get protected under the ambit of section-84.

6) Also, according to section- 2(s) of the Mental Healthcare act, “mental illness” means a

 substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs

 judgment, behaviour, capacity to recognise reality or a bility to meet the ordinary demands of

life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but does not include

mental retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a

 person, specially characterised by subnormality of intelligence;

7) In the case of State of U.P v Lakhmi11, the exception was discussed and the Co urt held in favour

of the accused who proved to be of unsound mind. The law is that burden of prove lies on the

accused. The mere fact that the accused adopted another alternative defense during his

examination under section-313 under IPC without referring to exception no.-1 of Section-300

of IPC is not enough to deny him of the benefit of the exception, if the court can cull out

10
 Moot Proposition, Para 1
11
 1998 (4) SCC 336

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materials from evidence pointing to the existence of circumstances leading to that exception.

It is not the law that failure to set up such a defense would foreclose the right to rely on the

exception once and for all. It is axiomatic that burden on the accused to prove any fact can be

discharged either through defense, evidence or even through prosecution evidence by showing

a preponderance of probability.

8) In the case of The purposes of provocation rely on the fact that he was suffering from a

 psychiatric disorder which affected the power of self-control and that could reasonably be

expected of him but he couldn’t plead that he had used reasonable force in self -defense.12,

Therefore, the defendant’s physical characteristics would be taken into account and in the light

of the fresh evidence relating to diminished responsibility, the conviction for murder was

quashed and a conviction for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility was

substituted and the period of sentence was also reduced.

9) Further, in the case of X v. State of NC T of Delhi 13, the court held acquittal of the accused who

murdered his wife as there were sufficient elements to prove that the person was suffering from

depression.

10) To commit a criminal offence, mens rea is generally taken to be an essential element of crime.

A person who is suffering from a mental disorder cannot be said to have committed a crime as

he does not know what he is doing. For committing a crime, the intention and act both are

taken to be the constituents of the crime, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea. Every normal

12
 R v Marth, (2001) EWCA Crim 2245(CA)

13
 CRL A 1308/2015 & CRL M (B) 8293/2015

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consider the relation in provocation that is to sa y, whether the mode of resentment bears

some proper and reasonable relationship to the sort of provocation that has been given.

3. THE DECEASED HAD FALSELY ACCUSED THE APPELLANT OF STEALING

4) Further, In I n Re C N arayan19, it was held that " The mental state created by an earlier act

may be taken into consideration in ascertaining whether a subsequent act was sufficient to

make the assailant to lose his self-control.

5) Under the English law, the provocation must be grave as well as sudden. But by way of

 judicial thinking, the Indian Criminal law has gone ahead. In our system, there is a concept of

sustained provocation. It is concerned with the duration of the provocation. There may be

incidents/occurrences, which are such that they may not provoke the offender suddenly to

make his outburst by his overt act. Howeve r, it may be Lingering in his mind for quite some

time, torment continuously and at one point of time erupt, which would lead to loss of self-

control, make his mind to go astray, the mind may not be under his control/command and

results in the offender committing the offence. The sustained provocation/frustration nurtured

in the mind of the accused reached the end of breaking point, under that accused causes the

murder of the deceased.

6) In the case of Ayanmar v. State of Tamil Nadu, it was held that courts in the decisions of

Babulal v. State 20and Sayambakkani v. state of Tamil Nadu 21have added one more

exception, known as sustained provocation. Therefore, while considering whether there are

materials to indicate that there is a grave and sudden provocation is contemplated under

19
 1958 CriLJ 476
20
 1961 AIR 884, 1961 SCR (3) 423
21
 1974 AIR 2271, 1975 SCR (2) 356

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exception 1 to section 300 IPC, sustained provocation, on account of a series of acts more or

less grave spread over a certain period of time, would undoubtedly stand added to exception

1 to section 300 IPC. It is evident from bare and apparent facts on record that the conduct of

the appellants was not predetermined and there was no time to cool down therefore the

offence of murder is not made out as it was truly grave and sudden.

7) The counsel would like to refer the case of Meera Puri v State of Nagaland 22 , where on a

sudden quarrel, the accused that dealt sudden blows on the abdomen of another person

without having any knowledge or intention of doing so. The court held that the accused is

guilty under section 325, IPC, not under section- 304-II.

8) So, following the above-mentioned cases, it can be said that the words of deceased and threat

of calling police worked as a grave and sudden provocation which caused Sripakshi losing

her mind in spur of the moment and act like that.

22
 1971 CrLJ 539 (Ass).

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PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in light of the issues raised, arguments advanced and authorities cited the Counsel

for the Appellants most humbly and respectfully requested that this Hon’ble Court to adjudge and

declare that:

1. The present appeal is maintainable.

2. That the act of the appellant falls within the ambit of section-84, IPC

3. That the injury inflicted by the appellant was not likely to cause death.

4. That the death occurred in a sudden fight was without any intention or knowledge on the

 part of the appellant.

5. The appellant shouldn’t be prosecuted under section-304-II, IPC and should be exempted

from her charges.

The court may also be pleased to pass any other order, which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit in

light of justice, equity and good conscience.

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