The Supreme Court has overturned the conviction and life sentence of a doctor from Uttarakhand who was earlier held guilty of killing a man during a violent confrontation at his clinic. The Court accepted the doctor’s plea of acting in private defence, noting that he had been attacked with a pistol.
A bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N. Kotiswar cited the landmark ruling in Darshan Singh v. State of Punjab, which laid down guiding principles on the right of private defence. Emphasising that such rights cannot be assessed with unrealistic precision, the Court remarked:
“The right of private defence cannot be weighed on a golden scale. The situation must be evaluated from the standpoint of an ordinary, reasonable individual. When an assailant enters a person’s place armed with a pistol, fires at his head and causes injury, it is unreasonable to expect the victim to act with perfect rationality while defending himself.”
The case involved Dr. Rakesh Dutt Sharma, who had a financial dispute with the deceased. According to records, the deceased entered Sharma’s clinic and opened fire. In the scuffle that followed, Sharma managed to seize the weapon and shot the attacker, leading to his death. While both sides had lodged FIRs against each other, the case against the deceased was closed after his death, and Sharma alone was prosecuted.
The trial court had convicted Sharma under Section 304 Part I of the IPC and awarded life imprisonment. This verdict was later upheld by the Uttarakhand High Court. However, on appeal, the Supreme Court observed that in situations of imminent threat, the law does not expect a person to calculate the exact degree of force required for self-defence. The Court concluded that Sharma’s actions were protected under the right of private defence and acquitted him.
