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Rajkishore Purohit v. The State of Madhya Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2017 INSC 691Decided 1 Aug 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 1292 of 2017
Justice Ranjan Gogoi · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

The complainant's brother was murdered during a political dispute over the removal of a local Mayor. The trial court convicted all four accused, including the present respondent no.2, under Section 302/34 IPC (murder with common intention) and sentenced them to life imprisonment. On appeal, the High Court acquitted respondent no.2, reasoning that he had not personally fired the weapon, was unarmed, and may not have known a co-accused was carrying a revolver. The deceased's brother (the appellant) challenged this acquittal before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's acquittal was unsustainable and based on speculative reasoning. It reiterated that "common intention" is a state of mind that need not be proven by direct evidence: it can be inferred from the accused's conduct before, during, and after the crime. The evidence showed the four accused arrived together, the respondent moved toward the deceased alongside the shooter, exhorted the attack, and fled together afterward, all indicating a shared, pre-planned intention even though he himself was unarmed and did not fire the fatal shot. The Court also noted the respondent's false alibi defence (rejected by both lower courts) as an aggravating factor. It set aside the acquittal, restored his conviction and life sentence, and directed him to surrender to serve the remaining sentence.

Lesson Learnt

A person can be convicted for a crime committed by someone else if the evidence shows a shared "common intention": simply not personally wielding the weapon or striking the blow is not a defence if your presence, actions, and conduct show you were part of a planned joint attack.

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

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