DEEPAK BHIKAJI DHARMALE vs STATE OF MAHARASHTRA — Crl.A. No. 196/2002

Summary: Crl.A. No. 196 / 2002 Deepak Bhikaji Dharmale v. State of Maharashtra (July 17, 2002) The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal. While upholding the conviction under Section 324 IPC (causing injury), the Court downgraded the conviction from Section 302 IPC (murder) to Section 304 Part-II IPC (causing death by negligence), citing absence of premeditation and the spur-of-the-moment nature of the knife assault during a scuffle. The appellant was sentenced to the period already served (8 years 8 months in custody since November 1993) and released forthwith if not required in any other case. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.