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Chhanga @ Manoj v. State of M.P.

Criminal Appeal · 2017 INSC 186Decided 28 Feb 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 898 of 2005
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman · Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar

Background

Arising out of a personal enmity between rival groups, the appellant and three others approached an informant sitting in a shop, and one of them threw two bombs at him, injuring his thigh. The appellant himself did not throw a bomb but was found to have shouted words urging that the informant be killed. The trial court convicted the appellant, along with the others, under Section 307 (attempt to murder) read with Section 34 (common intention) IPC, and the High Court of Madhya Pradesh upheld the conviction.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court rejected the appellant's arguments that the injuries were too minor to support a Section 307 charge and that his own role was too passive to justify conviction. It held that intention to kill can be inferred from the nature of the weapon used (bombs, in this case, were lethal), the words spoken by the accused, and the shared motive, regardless of whether the resulting injury happened to be minor due to chance (the bomb exploding at a distance). Since all four accused arrived and fled together, and the appellant was heard explicitly calling for the victim to be killed, his common intention under Section 34 was established. The Court dismissed the appeal, upheld the conviction, cancelled the appellant's bail, and directed him to surrender within two weeks to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Lesson Learnt

For an attempt-to-murder charge, what matters is the accused's intention, shown through the weapon used, words spoken, and motive, not merely how serious the resulting injury turned out to be; even a person who does not personally strike the blow can be held equally liable if he shares the common intention to kill.

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

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