Case Note & Summary
The judgment pertains to two criminal appeals filed by convicts challenging their conviction in Sessions Case No. 87 of 2014 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Dhule. The appellants were convicted for offences under Sections 143, 147, 148, 302, 307, 323, 504, 506 read with 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The prosecution case was that during the Ganpati festival of 2014, a quarrel erupted between the accused party and the informant party over the volume of a loudspeaker. Subsequently, on the day of the incident, the accused persons allegedly formed an unlawful assembly and attacked the informant party, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to others. The trial court convicted the appellants based on the testimony of prosecution witnesses. However, in appeal, the High Court noted that the prosecution witnesses had turned hostile and did not support the prosecution case. The court observed that the genesis of the incident was a sudden quarrel over loudspeaker volume and there was no pre-meditated plan to commit the offences. The medical evidence did not corroborate the specific roles attributed to each accused. The court held that the prosecution failed to prove the common object of the unlawful assembly and the individual overt acts of the appellants. Consequently, the court set aside the conviction and acquitted the appellants, giving them the benefit of doubt.
Headnote
A) Criminal Law - Unlawful Assembly - Common Object - Sections 143, 147, 148, 149 IPC - Conviction based on membership of unlawful assembly requires proof of common object and participation in furtherance thereof - In the instant case, the prosecution failed to establish the common object of the alleged unlawful assembly as the genesis of the incident was a sudden quarrel over loudspeaker volume and not a pre-meditated plan - Held that mere presence at the scene does not attract vicarious liability under Section 149 IPC (Paras 1-10). B) Criminal Law - Murder - Attempt to Murder - Hurt - Criminal Intimidation - Sections 302, 307, 323, 504, 506 IPC - Conviction set aside as the prosecution witnesses turned hostile and did not support the case - The medical evidence did not corroborate the ocular version regarding the specific roles of each accused - Held that in the absence of reliable evidence, the appellants are entitled to acquittal (Paras 11-20). C) Criminal Law - Hostile Witness - Evidentiary Value - The testimony of a hostile witness cannot be discarded in toto but can be relied upon to the extent it supports the prosecution case - However, in the present case, the hostile witnesses did not implicate the appellants and their evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction - Held that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt (Paras 21-30).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the conviction of the appellants for offences under Sections 143, 147, 148, 302, 307, 323, 504, 506 r/w 149 IPC is sustainable in law when the prosecution witnesses have turned hostile and the common object of the unlawful assembly is not proved.
Final Decision
The appeals are allowed. The judgment and order of conviction dated 04.07.2016 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Dhule in Sessions Case No. 87 of 2014 is set aside. The appellants are acquitted of all charges. They are directed to be set at liberty forthwith, if not required in any other case.
Law Points
- Unlawful assembly
- common object
- murder
- attempt to murder
- hurt
- criminal intimidation
- hostile witness
- acquittal
- benefit of doubt
