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Maheshwari Yadav & Anr. vs. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 1068Decided 13 Dec 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 1515 of 2011
Abhay S. Oka · Pankaj Mithal

Background

The appellants were convicted, along with a third accused who fired the fatal shot, for the 1997 murder of one Gholti Yadav near a railway line in Bihar, arising out of an earlier dispute over a stolen horse. The trial court and the Patna High Court both held the appellants guilty under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC (murder with common intention) and Section 325 read with Section 34 IPC, while the main shooter was separately convicted and his conviction had already been upheld by the Supreme Court in an earlier order. The appellants argued they had merely exhorted or carried sticks, had no proven common intention with the shooter, and that the prosecution's eyewitnesses were all relatives of the deceased and hence unreliable.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 34 IPC (common intention) does not require prior conspiracy or premeditation. It can be formed just before or during the incident, and applies even when the person invoking it did not personally strike the fatal blow. The Court found the five eyewitnesses, though relatives of the deceased, gave consistent and credible ("sterling quality") testimony about the appellants arriving together with the shooter, carrying sticks, and jointly assaulting the informant, showing they acted in concert. The Court rejected the argument that non-examination of some named bystanders or the witnesses' failure to intervene undermined the case, holding that relationship to the victim alone does not discredit testimony and that people carrying only sticks facing an armed assailant acting naturally would not intervene. The appeal was dismissed and the appellants, who were on bail, were directed to surrender within one month to serve their sentence.

Lesson Learnt

Being present at a crime scene, armed, and acting together with the main assailant can attract murder liability under "common intention" even without inflicting the fatal injury. Courts look at the totality of conduct, not just who struck the final blow, and close relationship of witnesses to a victim does not by itself make their testimony unreliable.

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

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