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Madan Mohan Mahto v. State of Jharkhand

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 156Decided 7 Feb 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 379 of 2010
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

On 19 November 1985, four men armed with a gun, a Tangi (an axe-like weapon) and a Pharsa attacked four villagers harvesting paddy in Jharkhand; one victim, Jitu Mahto, could not flee and was killed on the spot by gunshot, a cut to the hand, and blows with stones to the head. All four accused were convicted of murder by the Sessions Court and sentenced to life imprisonment, a conviction upheld by the High Court of Jharkhand. Two of the four accused died during the pendency of their Supreme Court appeals, leaving two appeals, including this one by Madan Mohan Mahto, to be decided together.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that it would not reassess evidence afresh where two courts below had already concurrently appreciated the ocular evidence, absent any perversity or illegality. Examining the testimony of the two surviving eyewitnesses, who knew the accused personally and gave consistent accounts corroborated by post-mortem findings, the Court found no material contradiction and upheld the common intention to murder under Section 34 IPC. The appeals were dismissed and the conviction and life sentence were affirmed.

Lesson Learnt

When the trial court and the High Court have both already scrutinised the same eyewitness evidence and reached the same conclusion, the Supreme Court will rarely interfere unless the findings are shown to be perverse or based on no evidence: consistent, corroborated eyewitness testimony from people who know the accused personally is very difficult to overturn on appeal.

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

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