Bombay HC won’t quash murder bid case against mentally ill man – Times of India

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court refused to quash an attempt to murder case filed against a 27-year-old man diagnosed with a mental health condition who allegedly threatened and assaulted two policemen when they chased and intercepted him for roaming around maskless in breach of Covid-19 guidelines last May. The man was allegedly armed with a chopper at the time the incident is said to have taken place.
The man, a south Mumbai resident does not understand the charge or his actions, had no intention to hurt and hence would be unable to even face a criminal trial, argued his counsel Rizwan Merchant.
The HC said: “A prosecution cannot be quashed on the ground that an accused is incapable to defend himself on account of unsoundness of mind.” In its judgment on October 6, a bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar cited chapter 25 of the criminal procedural law rule book, the Criminal Procedure Code, to state that it makes “elaborate provisions” to address the situation when an accused is found to be incapable of defending himself at the trial on the grounds of “unsoundness of mind”.
The prosecution case is that the man allegedly threatened to assault the police if they came forward to catch him. Two polive officials ultimately caught and overpowered, then disarmed him. The injuries he allegedly caused to the police were “simple injuries”, said Merchant citing the medical certificates. He argued that the FIR itself shows the man had no clue that his actions were wrong. He also produced medical papers of the man and his treatment of “psycho-pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy”.
Additional public prosecutor S R Shinde said there was “ample material” to show he was “cognizant” of his actions and “intentionally hurt” the policemen, adding that there was nothing on record to show mental health issues prior to the FIR.
The HC said that when insanity is pleaded in criminal cases, the court has to ascertain what the mental state of the accused was when the crime was committed. It said that in this case, there is nothing that would shed light on his state of mind that day.