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Rohtas & Anr. v. The State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2020 INSC 694Decided 10 Dec 2020
Criminal Appeal No. 38 of 2011
Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice Surya Kant · Justice Aniruddha Bose

Background

Following a land/irrigation dispute, the appellants and others attacked the complainant with axes over two confrontations in January 1998, inflicting severe injuries that ultimately required amputation of part of his leg. Seven people were originally charged with attempted murder and rioting as an "unlawful assembly," but the High Court acquitted three of them on appeal (reducing the group below the five-person minimum needed to sustain a charge based on common "unlawful assembly," under Section 149 IPC), while upholding the conviction of the three remaining appellants and reducing their sentence from seven to five years.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court rejected the appellants' argument that since fewer than five convicted persons remained, the conviction could not stand at all. It held that courts may convict individuals based on their own specific, proven acts and "common intention" (Section 34 IPC) even where a group-liability charge under Section 149 IPC fails due to acquittals of co-accused, provided the accused were not prejudiced by this shift. On facts, the medical and eyewitness evidence clearly established each appellant's individual role in inflicting life-threatening injuries, justifying the Section 307 (attempted murder) conviction. The Court declined to show sentencing leniency given the gravity and premeditated nature of the attack, dismissed the appeals on the main conviction, set aside only the separate rioting conviction (Section 148, which could not survive with fewer than five persons), and ordered the appellants back into custody to serve the remainder of their five-year sentence.

Lesson Learnt

Even if some co-accused are acquitted and the group falls below the legal minimum needed for a "common object" charge, the remaining individuals can still be convicted based on their own proven individual actions and intent: acquittal of others does not automatically clear everyone else.

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

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