Why in the News
More than five months after three Rajouri youths were killed in an army operation in Shopian on July 18, the Jammu and Kashmir police have filed a charge sheet, accusing an army captain and two civilians of kidnapping and killing them.
The next step in the process is a court martial
Homicide
The word Homicide is thought to be from the Latin where "Homo" means man and "cida" means murder. Thus, murder means the killing of a person by a man. Murder may be legal or unlawful. The conceivable house is punishable by law and is divided into two categories:
· Culpable homicide amounting to murder
· Culpable homicide not amounting to murder
Culpable homicide as per law
Section 299 of IPC reads as follows:
299. Culpable homicide — Whoever causes death by doing an act with the intention of causing death, or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, or with the knowledge that he is likely by such act to cause death, commits the offence of culpable homicide.
The difference between murder and culpable homicide is intent. If intent is present then the offense is said to be committed under Section 300 of IPC. If the intention is absent, the offense is dealt with under Section 304 of the IPC.
Exception
Section 300, refers to some exceptional situations under which if murder is committed it is reduced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder punishable under section 304, IPC and not under section 302, IPC. The exceptions are:
· Grave and sudden provocation
· Private defense
· Exercise of legal power
· Without premeditation in sudden fight and
· Consent in case of passive euthanasia
Court martial
A court-martial or court martial is a lawsuit conducted in a military court or such court. Under court law, a court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces, and if the offender is convicted of deciding the sentence,
Court-martial cannot trial civil proceedings.
The military personnel can be tried for all offences under the Army Act except for
· The course of employment or during an active service
· Any place outside India
· Any border or frontier post directed by the Central Government through notification.