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Bal Mukund Sharma @ Balmukund Chaudhry Etc. v. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 532Decided 16 Apr 2019
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1382-1384 of 2014
Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

Fifteen men were accused of forming an unlawful assembly that chased a villager and his wife, set fire to part of their house, and then caught the villager's nephew and shot him dead; gunfire from two of the accused also injured several bystanders. The trial court convicted all fifteen for murder (with the help of the provision making every member of an unlawful assembly liable for an offence committed in pursuit of its common object) and other offences, and the High Court of Patna confirmed these convictions. The convicted persons appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that guilt for the murder itself should not have been extended to those who did not personally fire the fatal shot.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that only the accused who actually fired the fatal shot could be held guilty of murder, because the evidence did not establish that the rest of the group shared a "common object" to kill, as required to extend liability under Section 149 IPC to the whole group. It accordingly modified the convictions: the shooter's conviction and sentence were confirmed in full; one co-accused had died during the appeal and that appeal abated; four others were acquitted of murder but their convictions for lesser offences (like rioting and arson) were upheld with sentence reduced to time already served; and the remaining nine accused, including the lead appellant Bal Mukund Sharma, were acquitted of all charges for lack of credible evidence of their specific involvement. The appeals were thus allowed in part, with sentences tailored to each individual's proven role rather than treating the whole group alike.

Lesson Learnt

Being part of a mob at the scene of a crime does not automatically make every member guilty of the most serious offence committed by one of them: courts require proof of a shared "common object" or a specific, proven individual role before extending liability for murder to the entire group.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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