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Randhir @ Randhir Pal & Ors. v. State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1580 of 2010)Decided 6 Oct 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 1580 of 2010
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice Arun Mishra

Background

In a 2002 incident, six men allegedly entered a shop in Haryana armed with a pistol, knives, and axes, fatally assaulting the complainant's brother, Laxman, while five other accused, the present appellants, allegedly stood guard outside in the street, preventing passersby and others from entering the shop. The trial court convicted all accused based mainly on the testimony of two eyewitnesses (the deceased's brothers), and the Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the convictions. This appeal, filed by the five accused who were not alleged to have entered the shop or inflicted any injury, reached the Supreme Court after an earlier round in which the appeals of the other accused (who did enter the shop) were already dismissed.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found that even on the prosecution's own eyewitness accounts, these five appellants were never accused of entering the shop or causing any injury to the deceased: their alleged role was limited to standing in the street. The State's counsel candidly conceded this during the hearing. The Court further found that the specific persons these appellants allegedly prevented from approaching the shop were not named in the original First Information Report and appeared to be a later addition to the evidence, undermining the reliability of that part of the prosecution case. The Court also noted that some of the five appellants were close relatives of a man murdered in an earlier, related incident, suggesting they may have been implicated due to pre-existing family enmity rather than genuine involvement. Concluding it could not be established with certainty that these five appellants were truly involved in the occurrence, the Court gave them the benefit of the doubt and acquitted all five, discharging their bail bonds.

Lesson Learnt

In a group assault case, mere presence in the vicinity is not enough to sustain a conviction: the prosecution must reliably establish each individual accused's specific role, and unexplained additions to witness testimony that go beyond the original police complaint can entitle an accused to the benefit of the doubt.

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

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