Refusal Of Marriage Proposal Cannot Be ‘Grave And Sudden Provocation’ For Murder : Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has rejected the defence of ‘grave and sudden provocation’ taken by a jilted lover who murdered a girl on her refusal to accept his marriage proposal. A division bench of Justices Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice P Krishna Bhat said: “To permit the accused to take a defence of ‘grave and sudden provocation’ in the facts and circumstances of this case apart from being “obnoxious”, will result in negation of the fundamental rights of the deceased under Articles 14, 19 (1) (a) and 21 of the Constitution of India and, as such, opposed to public policy.”