However, the question to be considered in the case at hand is whether an injury caused by human nail may be deemed to be an injury caused by means of an instrument for stabbing or cutting?
9. It may be noted that there is intrinsic difference between the two sets of appendages of human body namely, the teeth and the nails. Teeth are hard, bony appendages growing out of upper and lower jaw bones and by their very nature much stronger than the nails. Whereas the upper set of teeth is fixed, the lower set, activated by strong jaw muscles, is adapted to move against the upper set facilitating a pincer like grip upon the object being bitten or chewed. As such, teeth are capable of chopping away parts of human body such as tip of nose, earlobes or in extreme cases even distal parts of small fingers. They are; therefore, capable of causing much graver injury to human body than human nails.
10. The human nail on the other hand is a thin, though hard, layer covering the outer tip of human fingers. It is made up of a translucent protein called keratin. By virtue of its constitution, it is weaker than a tooth. It is also somewhat flexible. Unless they are intentionally used for pinching, nails of fingers are ordinarily not used in coordination with each other. As a result they are not capable of exerting same amount of pressure as teeth. Therefore, in ordinary course they only cause abrasions or scratch marks. In the present case also, only an abrasion over right side of neck was found on the person of the victim.
11. Thus, a human nail cannot be placed on the same footing as tooth as a weapon of offence or defence. It cannot be deemed to be an instrument used for either cutting or stabbing. Hence, hurt caused by human nail may not qualify as an injury caused by means of an instrument for the purposes of section 324 of the Indian Penal Code.
12. In aforesaid view of the matter, learned Courts below erred in framing a charge of the offence punishable under section 324 of the IPC simply because one of the abrasions found upon the person of one of the victims was said to have been caused by nails. Thus, the charge framed under sections 324 or 324 read with section 34 of IPC against applicants/accused persons is not sustainable in the eyes of law and deserves to be quashed.
Madhya Pradesh High Court
Chhota @ Akash vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 16 October, 2015
Coram: (C V SIRPURKAR) JUDGE 