grave and sudden provocation
Under Exception 1 to s.101 BNS (old Exception 1 to s.300 IPC), culpable homicide is not murder if the offender, deprived of the power of self-control by grave and sudden provocation, causes the death of the person who gave it, or of another by mistake or accident. The provocation must not be sought by the offender, nor given by a lawful act of a public servant or in lawful private defence. Whether it was grave and sudden is a question of fact.
In K.M. Nanavati (1961) the Supreme Court held that the test is whether a reasonable person of the same class of society, placed in the accused's situation, would be so provoked as to lose self-control. If there was time for passion to cool, as when Nanavati went home, fetched a pistol and then shot the victim, the exception fails. Indian courts also recognise provocation built up over time and triggered by a final act.
Example
Since the accused killed the victim three hours after the insult, after calmly buying a knife, the plea of grave and sudden provocation failed.
In Indian law
- Section 101, Exception 1, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old s.300, Exception 1, IPC)
- K.M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra, 1961 INSC 322
See also
murder · culpable homicide · homicide · mens rea
Read more in the study notes
- Phases of negotiation, qualities of a negotiator and power to negotiate (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
- Compounding of offences and plea bargaining (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
- Culpable homicide and murder (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Hurt and grievous hurt (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, criminal force and assault (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Offences against public tranquillity (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)