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Insanity (Section 84)

 Insanity (Sec-84)

Act of a person of unsound mind is given under Sec-84 as,
“Nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act or that what he is doing is either wrong or contrary to law”

The law of Insanity was introduced by a leading case of McNaughton.

In R V

Mc. Naughten


Facts:

Daniel Mc. Naughten the accused, murdered Mr. Drummond, the private secretary of Sir. Robert Peel, the Prime Minister of England, by confusion that Mr. Drummond was Sir. Robert Peel.

He was tried for murder.
On behalf of the accused, the defense counsel pleaded that, the accused due to the insanity, he was not able to know that he was violating the laws of God and man. It was established that the accused lost his power of control of mind, while committing the offence, a medical report was also produced to that effect.

Judgment:
The court acquitted Mc. Naughten on the grounds of Insanity.

Mc. Naughten Principles of Insanity:

1) Unless the contrary is proved, every man is of sound mind and he knows that he is responsible for his crime.

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  1. 2)  To plead the defense of insanity, the accused has to prove that, at the time of committing the act, he was suffering a disease of mind.

  2. 3)  If the accused was conscious at the time of the act, he is punishable.

  3. 4)  The accused is not punishable, if he kills a person in a suspicion that the

    person was attempting to kill him.
    The accused is punishable, if he kills a person in a suspicion that the person was attempting to do serious injury.

  4. 5)  A medical witness, who has not seen the accused before the trial should not be asked to give his opinion on the accused mind.

    Ingredients:

Insanity or unsoundness of mind itself is not a defense.

To plead Insanity as a defense, the following conditions has to be satisfied, they are:

  1. 1)  The accused is of unsound mind.

  2. 2)  that he does not know the nature of the act he was doing

  3. 3)  that he is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law

  4. 4)  Burden of Proof is on the shoulders of the accused to plead the defense of

    insanity.

    Types of Insanity:

  1. 1)  Lunatic

  2. 2)  Idiot

  3. 3)  One due to disease and

  4. 4)  Drunken or intoxicated person.

In Veluswamy V

State
In this case, the accused killed his father with a grinding stone because he refused

to give him the money.
The court denied the defense of Insanity on the grounds that the accused was in full sense while committing the offence.

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