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Mala Singh & Ors. v. The State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 180Decided 12 Feb 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1144 of 2009
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice R. Subhash Reddy · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

Eleven members of a family were tried for the murder of a woman, Mahendro Bai, arising from a land dispute between two branches of the family. The trial court convicted all eleven under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC (unlawful assembly). On appeal, the High Court acquitted eight of them for lack of evidence but upheld the conviction of the remaining three (one of whom died during the Supreme Court appeal), controversially switching their conviction to Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC (common intention) instead.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that once eight co-accused were acquitted, the charge of "unlawful assembly" under Section 149 automatically collapsed since fewer than five persons remained, and while the High Court did have the power to alter the charge to Section 34, there was no evidence at all showing that the two surviving appellants shared a "common intention" to kill: a requirement distinct from Section 149's lower threshold. Since the appellants had each inflicted only a single, non-fatal blow before the fatal injuries (a gunshot and a sword strike by other men) were inflicted, the Court held their conduct did not support a murder conviction. Their conviction was reduced to the lesser offence of voluntarily causing hurt (Section 324 IPC), and given they had already served about seven years and were on bail for a decade without breach, they were sentenced only to the time already served, subject to a fine.

Lesson Learnt

A person can only be convicted of murder through "common intention" if there is actual evidence that they shared a plan to kill: merely being present and striking a minor, non-fatal blow during a group fight is not enough to make someone liable for a killing committed by others.

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

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