LANDMARK CASE
Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab
AIR 1958 SC 465 · Supreme Court of India · Criminal law
At a glance
- Citation: AIR 1958 SC 465
- Court: Supreme Court of India
- Area of law: Criminal law
- In one line: Prove the injury, its nature, that it was intended and that it was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
1 Facts
The accused thrust a spear into the victim's abdomen, causing death.
2 Issue
What must the prosecution prove for murder under clause 3 of Section 300 IPC?
3 What the court decided
Prove the injury, its nature, that it was intended and that it was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death.
4 Why it matters
Still the standard test for this clause of murder.
5 Think about it
Why is the intention to cause the particular injury enough, without intending death?
6 Analyse it yourself
Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.
7 More cases on Criminal law
- Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar AIR 1961 SC 1698
- Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2021) 1 SCC 1
- Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) 2 SCC 684
- Balwant Singh v. State of Punjab (1995) 3 SCC 214
- Barendra Kumar Ghosh v. Emperor AIR 1925 PC 1
- Basdev v. State of PEPSU AIR 1956 SC 488
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