Section 335 IPC: Voluntarily Causing Grievous Hurt on Provocation

Section 335 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 dealt with voluntarily causing grievous hurt on grave and sudden provocation where the offender neither intended nor knew himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt to any person other than the person who gave the provocation.

Meaning and Scope of Section 335 IPC

Section 335 created a specific rule for grievous hurt caused on grave and sudden provocation. Provocation was not a complete defence. Instead, where every statutory condition was satisfied, the offence attracted the punishment prescribed by Section 335 rather than the ordinary punishment framework for voluntarily causing grievous hurt.

The provision was narrow. The provocation had to be both grave and sudden, the injury had to amount to "grievous hurt," and the accused must neither have intended nor known himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt to anyone other than the person who gave the provocation.

Essential Ingredients of Section 335 IPC

• The accused voluntarily caused grievous hurt.
• The grievous hurt was caused on grave and sudden provocation.
• The person grievously hurt was the person who gave the provocation, subject to the wording of the section.
• The accused did not intend to cause grievous hurt to any person other than the person who gave the provocation.
• The accused did not know himself to be likely to cause grievous hurt to any such other person.
• The case was not excluded by the provisos to Exception 1 of Section 300 IPC, which Section 335 expressly incorporated.

What Is Grievous Hurt Under Section 320 IPC?

Section 320 IPC specified eight categories of hurt designated as "grievous." These included emasculation; permanent privation of sight of either eye; permanent privation of hearing of either ear; privation of any member or joint; destruction or permanent impairment of the powers of any member or joint; permanent disfiguration of the head or face; fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth; and certain hurt which endangers life or causes the sufferer to be in severe bodily pain, or unable to follow ordinary pursuits, for the statutory period.

Voluntarily Causing Grievous Hurt - Section 322 IPC

Section 322 IPC dealt with voluntarily causing grievous hurt. Broadly, it required voluntary causation of hurt where the offender intended, or knew himself to be likely, to cause grievous hurt and the hurt actually caused was grievous hurt. Section 335 applied to the particular situation in which grievous hurt was caused on grave and sudden provocation and its additional conditions were met.

Meaning of Grave and Sudden Provocation

The IPC did not provide a single mechanical definition of every circumstance amounting to grave and sudden provocation. Whether the provocation possessed the required gravity and suddenness depended on the facts. The Explanation to Exception 1 of Section 300 treated the sufficiency of grave and sudden provocation as a question of fact.

Provisos to Exception 1 of Section 300 IPC

The Explanation to Section 335 made Sections 334 and 335 subject to the same provisos as Exception 1 to Section 300. Accordingly, the benefit of the provocation rule was restricted where:

• the provocation was sought or voluntarily provoked by the offender as an excuse for killing or doing harm to any person;
• the provocation was given by something done in obedience to law, or by a public servant in the lawful exercise of that public servant's powers; or
• the provocation was given by something done in the lawful exercise of the right of private defence.

These limitations are important because Section 335 expressly imported them into the law governing grievous hurt on provocation.

Punishment Under Section 335 IPC

Section 325 and Section 335 IPC

Section 325 IPC prescribed punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt except in the case provided for by Section 335. Section 335 was therefore the specific provision where the requirements relating to grave and sudden provocation were established.

Difference Between Sections 334 and 335 IPC

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the pre-BNS legal position. Application of Section 335 to particular facts depends on the evidence and applicable law and may require professional legal advice.