Voluntarily Causing Grievous Hurt By Dangerous Hurt Section-326, Indian Penal Code

Bare Reading of the section:

Section 326.   Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means. Whoever, except in the case provided for by section 335, voluntarily causes grievous hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting, or any instrument which, used as a weapon of offence, is likely to cause death, or by means of fire or any heated substance, or by means of any poison or any corrosive substance, or by means of any explosive substance, or by means of any substance which it is deleterious to the human body to inhale, to swallow, or to receive into the blood, or by means of any animal, shall be punished with 1 [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

1[326A. Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc.-- Whoever causes permanent or partial damage or deformity to, or burns or maims or disfigures or disables, any part or parts of the body of a person or causes grievous hurt by throwing acid on or by administering acid to that person, or by using any other means with the intention of causing or with the knowledge that he is likely to cause such injury or hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and with fine:

Provided that such fine shall be just and reasonable to meet the medical expenses of the treatment of the victim:

Provided further that any fine imposed under this section shall be paid to the victim.

Section 326B.   Voluntarily throwing or attempting to throw acid. Whoever throws or attempts to throw acid on any person or attempts to administer acid to any person, or attempts to use any other means, with the intention of causing permanent or partial damage or deformity or burns or maiming or disfigurement or disability or grievous hurt to that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than five years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Explanation 1.—for the purposes of section 326A and this section, "acid" includes any substance which has acidic or corrosive character or burning nature, that is capable of causing bodily injury leading to scars or disfigurement or temporary or permanent disability.

Explanation 2.—for the purposes of section 326A and this section, permanent or partial damage or deformity shall not be required to be irreversible.]

Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 is all about grievous hurt caused by weapons. Further, Sections 326-A and 326-B are the law against acid attacks. But grievous hurt is quite a narrow term as defined by Indian law. Thus, in many cases, the courts must determine whether a certain hurt is simple or grievous on a case-to-case basis. This article explores the language used in Sections 326, 326-A, and 326-B, the type of offences they are, certain case laws, and the amendments to these sections, to get a holistic understanding of what exactly these sections criminalize.

Decoding Section-326:

Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes act that involves voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means. Using any instrument or weapon for shooting, stabbing, cutting, or doing anything else that is likely to cause death will be considered part of the section. Further, grievous hurt by fire or any heated substance, poison or corrosive substance, or any explosive which the victim is made to inhale, swallow, or is transferred directly into the victim’s blood or by any kind of animal also comes under this section.

The punishment prescribed under Section 326 of the Penal Code is imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which might extend up to ten years as well as liability for fine. Up till 1955, in place of “imprisonment for life” the term “transportation for life” was present. However, by Act 26 of 1955 i.e., Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1955, the words were substituted. 

Transportation for life was a form of punishment that involved exile or banishment of the convict to a pre-determined locality for the duration of their natural life. This was a type of penalty that was often imposed in the Indian colonial era to deport Indian nationalists. After independence, by the 1955 Amendment Act, this method of punishment was removed by insertion of Section 53A in the Penal Code, which stated that “transportation for life” would henceforth mean “imprisonment for life”.

Main elements of the IPC Section 326:

The main ingredients of Section 326 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) are as follows:

1. Voluntary Act: The offense under this section is committed when a person voluntarily engages in an act that results in grievous hurt to another individual. The act must be intentional, and the person must have the requisite intention to cause harm.
2. Grievous Hurt: The section specifically deals with causing grievous hurt, which refers to a serious or severe injury. Grievous hurt is defined under the IPC and includes injuries that are likely to endanger the life of the victim or cause permanent disfigurement or disability.
3. Means and Instruments: Section 326 covers a wide range of means and instruments that can be used to cause grievous hurt. This includes instruments for shooting, stabbing, cutting, weapons of offense likely to cause death, fire, heated substances, poison, corrosive substances, explosive substances, and substances that are deleterious to the human body when inhaled, swallowed, or received into the blood. This means that the provision is broad in its scope and covers various methods of causing serious harm.
4. Criminal Intent: The act must be committed with criminal intent, which means that the person must have the intention to cause grievous hurt using the specified means or instruments.
5. Punishment: The section specifies the punishment for the offense, which can include imprisonment of either description for a term that may extend to ten years, in addition to being liable to a fine.

In summary, Section 326 of the IPC outlines the key elements of a crime involving the intentional infliction of grievous hurt using dangerous means or instruments, and it prescribes the potential punishment for such actions.

Voluntarily causing grievous hurt on provocation:

Thus, any person causing grievous hurt voluntarily but on provocation comes under Section 335. Herein, the punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt, which is still a crime, is somewhat mitigated as the fact that the accused was provoked is taken into account. In the case of Dalip Singh and Ors. v. State of Haryana (2008), the facts involved a petty altercation between the parties on an issue, but there was no prior enmity between them. The accused later asked the victim to come to a panchayat meeting the next day to resolve the issue and had no intention to hurt the victim. But, during the meeting, the offence was committed during a heated exchange of words. The Punjab and Haryana High Court opined that there was no sudden provocation by the victim and thus, the accused could not come under Section 335.

Without the knowledge or intention that such an action is likely to cause grievous hurt :

An important element of Section 326 is that the grievous hurt caused must be done to cause hurt and with the knowledge of the consequences of the hurt. But, in certain instances, in a fit of rage, people might end up hurting someone to an extent they did not mean to. For those cases, to protect and mitigate the punishment of the accused, this provision is important. In Ahmed Ali v. State of Tripura (2009), the Supreme Court reduced the punishment of the accused to three months of rigorous imprisonment from four years, while keeping the fine intact. It was held that because the accused was of a “tender age” during the commission of the offence and the accused was ignorant of the repercussions of his actions, the reduction of sentence was justified.

The next thing that must be understood is ‘grievous hurt’. The same is defined in Section 320 of the Penal Code of 1860. The ambit of Section 320 is quite narrow and in Mathai v. State of Kerala (2005), the Supreme Court held that the clauses of this Section must be strictly constructed and interpreted. The following kinds of hurt are considered to be ‘grievous’ in nature:

1. Emasculation, or castration which involves injury to or removal of male genitalia
2. Permanent loss of eyesight of either eye
3. Permanent loss of hearing of either ear
4. Loss of a limb or joint
5. Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any limb or joint
6. Permanent disfiguration of the head or face
7. Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth
8. Any hurt which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be in the space of twenty days in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow his ordinary pursuits.

In the case of State of Karnataka v. Siddegowda and Anr. (1995), the injury caused by a sharp-edged instrument to muscle nerves was said to be a simple hurt and not a grievous one. On the other hand, injury to the forehead with an axe was considered to be within Section 326 in A.C. Gangadhar v. State of Karnataka, (1998) and the punishment prescribed for one year of rigorous imprisonment was held to be justified.

In the case of Omanakuttan v. State of Kerala (2019), the Supreme Court was hearing a Special Leave Petition about this issue. The accused had, in the year 1997, poured acid over the victim whom the former hated. Apart from the pain and the scars, the victim also was unable to perform any everyday function. The Court held that the punishment awarded to him, being of simple imprisonment for a term of one year and a fine of Rs. 5,000/- with default stipulation, was rather inadequate than excessive. It upheld the punishment but refrained from increasing the sentence.

Section 326 is often used with the conjunction of Sections 322 and 325. Section 322 talks about voluntarily causing grievous hurt while 325 prescribes the punishment for the same. The difference between these two sections and Section 326 is that the latter punishes voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means. The punishment for causing grievous hurt is lesser than when the same is done using dangerous weapons or means.

State amendment by Madhya Pradesh:

Criminal laws and procedural laws are part of the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule and thus states can also amend the Indian Penal Code, provided their amendment is not contradictory to the Centre, which will lead to the prevalence of the Central law.

Section 326 has been slightly amended by only one state, i.e., Madhya Pradesh. The amendment was done by Section 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Act 2 of 2008, which substituted “Magistrate of the First Class” with “Court of Session”. A Sessions Court judge is the highest court of trial for any criminal case within a district.

Classification of the offence:

The offence under this section is cognizable, non-bailable, non-compoundable and triable by a Magistrate of first-class, the meaning of which is explained below.

1. Cognizable offences: They are generally serious offences. The police or any other investigating officer can arrest the person accused of such an offence without acquiring a warrant from a Magistrate.
2. Non-bailable offences: In non-bailable offences, bail is not a matter of right as is in the case of bailable offences. Thus, the grant of bail to the accused in cases of non-bailable offences depends completely on the discretion of the judge who is trying the relevant case.
3. Non-compoundable offences: In cases of certain offences, generally minor ones, the judicial system of India allows compromises to be drawn between the accused and the victim to conclude without going through the hassle of a full-fledged criminal trial. Hence, in those cases, the offence is said to be compounded. But Section 326 is a non-compoundable offence, i.e., there must be a trial if a convincing case can be established against the accused.

Triable by a First Class Magistrate: Magistrates in Group-A Category by status with judicial powers are called Magistrates of the First Class. The Magistrate of First Class is the second-lowest judicial authority in a district for trying criminal cases.