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Omkar Singh vs. Jaiprakash Narain Singh & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 166Decided 9 Feb 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 84 of 2022
M.R. Shah · Sanjiv Khanna

Background

The appellant's father was shot dead at night by one of two accused (father and son) amid a family land dispute; three eyewitnesses testified that the son (accused No.1) fired the fatal shot while the father (accused No.2, respondent No.1 here) exhorted him to "shoot him." The trial court convicted both, the son under Section 302 IPC and the father under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC, sentencing both to life imprisonment. The High Court confirmed the son's conviction but acquitted the father, reasoning that his role was mere exhortation with no overt act, and that the witnesses may have exaggerated his role to implicate both father and son. The original complainant (the deceased's son) appealed the father's acquittal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that once the High Court itself found all three eyewitnesses fully credible and reliable, and used their testimony to uphold the son's conviction, it could not selectively disbelieve the same witnesses regarding the father's role. The witnesses consistently testified that both accused arrived together at the scene with common intention, the father exhorted his son to kill upon finding the victim on a different cot, and the motive (a land dispute) was established. The Court found the High Court's acquittal of the father "contrary to the evidence on record" and unsustainable, since presence, common intention, and the specific exhortation role were all proven, warranting conviction under Section 302/34 IPC. It quashed the acquittal, restored the trial court's conviction and life sentence, and directed the father (respondent No.1) to surrender within four weeks.

Lesson Learnt

A court cannot selectively believe the same set of eyewitnesses for one co-accused's conviction while disbelieving them for another's acquittal when their testimony is otherwise found consistent and reliable; under Section 34 IPC, active participation with common intention, even limited to exhortation, is enough to sustain a murder conviction.

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

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