Bombay High Court acquits man of attempted murder for pouring rat poison into wife’s mouth during fight

The Bombay High Court recently acquitted a man of attempted murder after he forcibly poured rat poison into his wife's mouth during a quarrel. [Namdeo Ramchandra Chormule v. State of Maharashtra].Instead, Justice Sarang Kotwal convicted the appellant of a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder."The evidence shows that the quarrel had started at 9:00 a.m. and during that quarrel the appellant had poured poison in the informant’s mouth. Therefore, there was no premeditation, no pre-planning and no design on the part of the Appellant. In such a case, if that act had led to the death of the victim, it would not have been murder, but only culpable homicide, not amounting to murder; as referred to Exception 4 to Section 300 of the I.P.C," the Court held..The incident occurred on August 2, 2015, when the appellant Chormule, under the influence of alcohol, quarrelled with his wife Rani and poured rat poison into her mouth. Medical evidence confirmed the presence of poison in the victim's stomach wash and the seized bottle.The case also referenced a previous incident in which Chormule allegedly attempted to pour kerosene on his wife. Rani mentioned this during her testimony, although Chormule had been acquitted of that charge.Chormule was convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Solapur under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) and sentenced to ten years in prison. He appealed the conviction before the Bombay High Court..Despite the prosecution's arguments in favour of conviction under Section 307 IPC, the Court found that the lack of premeditation and the appellant's subsequent actions warranted a lesser charge. It noted that Chormule's immediate assistance in taking his wife to the hospital indicated a lack of intent to kill.He was thus sentenced to time served, having already been in custody for five years and six months. The conviction under Section 504 IPC for intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace was upheld. The Court ordered his immediate release, provided he is not required in any other cases..Advocates Abhishek R Avachat, Siddhant H Deshpande and Mahesh Sadaphal appeared for Chormule.Additional Public Prosecutor Ranjana D Humane represented the State..[Read judgment]