Penal Code, 1860 – ss.149, 148 – Appellant alongwith others was convicted for the murder of his Uncle – Whether the appellant was a part of the unlawful assembly – Plea of the appellant that both the courts below erred in convicting him as the allegation against him was that he was carrying a country- made pistol, however, neither were there any firearm injuries nor recovery of any country-made pistol or empty cartridge:
Held: Appellant was roped in by virtue of ss.148 and 149 – PW-1 and PW-2 (sons of the deceased) were eyewitnesses – Appellant was carrying a country-made pistol in his hand – Neither PW-1 nor PW-2 stated that the appellant had fired at them or at the deceased – The role attributed to the appellant was helping the other accused persons and himself flee from the crime scene by frightening the people including PW-1 and PW-2 when they were about to reach the crime scene, by firing from his country-made pistol into the air – Factum of causing injury or not causing injury would not be relevant when an accused is roped in with the aid of s.149 – Further, though, neither any country-made pistol nor any cartridge, empty or otherwise, was recovered however, as the appellant was roped in with the aid of s.149 IPC, no overt act is required to be imputed to a particular person when the charge is u/s.149; the presence of the accused as part of the unlawful assembly is sufficient for conviction – Appellant was a part of the unlawful assembly which had the common object of eliminating the deceased by criminal force – Therefore, being a member of the unlawful assembly, he was also guilty of the murder committed in prosecution of the common object – Charges against the appellant u/ss.148 and 302/149 proved beyond reasonable doubt. [Paras 22, 24, 25, 30.1, 32] Penal Code, 1860 – s.149 – Liability under – Discussed.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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