Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

(1) Sindhi Dalwai alias Raman Raghav (prisoner) is of unsound mind. He is suffering from a psychosis called chronic paranoid schizophrenia or paraphrenia, the latter being an old term for chronic paranoid schizophrenia plus auditory hallucinations. He is dangerous to the society and hence certifiably insane.

(2) Sindhi knew the nature of the act, i.e. he knew that he was killing human beings.

(3) He did know that what he did was wrong and contrary to the law of the land but he firmly believed that what he was doing was right and in tune with the law of 'Kanoon' whose law according to him was obligatory for him to follow.

(Bracketed portion supplied.)

50. Therefore, the crucial point of time for bringing the case within the provisions of Section 84 I.P.C. is the time when the offence is committed by the accused, and in order to know what was the state of mind of the accused at the time of the offence, his conduct and behaviour preceding, during and following the crime has to be considered.

51. Dr. Patkar (D.W. 2) during his cross-examination frankly admitted that he could not give any opinion about the condition of the mind of the appellant-accused in August 1968. Though he made such categorical statement, he stated that the accused suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and the onset thereof might be from two years before his examination by him. It has been brought in the cross-examination of Dr. Patkar that he had no occasion to examine any criminal lunatic before he examined the accused in this case. Time at his disposal was too short to properly fathom the mind of the accused and know his mental condition. The questions reproduced above which Dr. Patkar put to the accused can hardly be said to be sufficient to know the nature of the ailment the accused was suffering at the time of his interview with Dr. Patkar. When Dr. Patkar asked the accused what he meant by 'Kanoon', he said that the Kanoon was inside him, and he put his hand on his stomach. Thus, according to the accused, Kanoon for him is the needs of his body. The accused wanted money for his maintenance, being unemployed, he had to resort to thefts, and to avoid detection his modus operandi was first to kill the inmates of the house and thereafter to steal whatever he could find in the house. It is pertinent to note that the accused was examined under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, on 1st and 4th August, 1969. He was also examined on oath on August 4, 1969. The reading of his answers to the questions put to him in his examination under the said Section 342 does not show that he was of insane mind. On the contrary, they indicate that his memory and insight were sound. He was understanding the questions fully and was answering them intelligently. On August 4, 1969 he was examined on oath and his deposition reads as follows: