IMPORTANT POINT
Murder – Once common object of unlawful assembly stands established, every member thereof becomes vicariously liable for acts committed in prosecution of such common object.

JUDGMENT :

SANJAY KAROL, J.

1. These appeals arise out of the common final judgment and order dated 03.08.2017 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Patna in Government Appeal(DB)No.56/1989 and Criminal Appeal (DB) No.267/1989, whereby the High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence awarded by the learned Trial Court against the appellants in connection with a gruesome incident of mass violence which took place on 29.03.1983 in Village Jamalpur Kodai, P.S. Gaighat, District Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

2. Allegedly, a long-standing village rivalry culminated in a grave incident in which a mob consisting of about 58 accused persons set on fire the residential house of Chandra Shekhar Choudhary of Village Jamalpur Kodai, P.S. Gaighat, District Muzaffarpur, resulting in the brutal murder of five members of his immediate family/village and causing severe injuries to several others. The incident was reported to the police, leading to registration of Gaighat P.S. Case No. 38 of 1983. Upon completion of investigation, charge-sheets were laid and the accused persons were sent up for trial.

3. Charges were framed against the accused persons under Sections 147, 148, 436, 302/149, 324/34, 323 and 379 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Accused Jagannath Ravidas, the then Circle Officer, was separately charged under Sections 302/109, 436/109, 379/109, 324/109 and 323/109 IPC on the allegation that he had actively abetted the commission of the offences.

4. The prosecution case, as unfolded during trial, discloses that the genesis of the occurrence lay in an earlier dispute relating to a pumping set and refusal by the prosecution side to withdraw a criminal case concerning the alleged loot of a khesari crop. On the date of occurrence, which coincided with the festival of Holi, a large mob armed with deadly weapons including lathi, bhala, garasa and farsa surrounded the house of Chandra Shekhar Choudhary.

5. It is alleged that at the relevant time Mahanth Indradeo Jyoti, one of the deceased, was attempting to defend the inmates of the house with his licensed gun and revolver. The prosecution further alleges that Jagannath Ravidas, the then Circle Officer, arrived at the place of occurrence, forcibly seized the licensed firearm and revolver from the deceased, displayed the same before the mob and thereby emboldened the assailants to proceed with the attack.

6. Immediately thereafter, the mob allegedly set the house ablaze. The family members who attempted to flee from the burning house towards the southern field were chased and mercilessly assaulted by the members of the unlawful assembly.

7. The investigation disclosed that Mahanth Indradeo Jyoti, Braj Bhushan Choudhary, Dr. Indranand Mishra, Lalan @ Ravi Bhushan Choudhary, and Anil Kumar Jha, died as a result of ante-mortem injuries sustained during the occurrence. The injured persons included Chandra Shekhar Choudhary, Mani Kumari, Uma Devi, Maheshwari Devi, Satyendra Jha, Saraswati Devi, Urmila Devi, Murti Devi, Ram Chandra Mahto, Abinash Choudhary, Dauli (child), Arvind Kumar, Usha Mishra, Rita Devi, Punam Kumari, Doyal Mona, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Munish Kumar and others, many of whom had sustained grievous injuries.

8. In support of its case, the prosecution examined 46 witnesses including numerous injured eyewitnesses. The defence examined 13 witnesses.

9. The medical evidence stood fully proved through PW-1, Dr. Binod Kumar Mahto, who conducted the post-mortem examinations on four deceased persons namely, Mahanth Indradeo Jyoti, Braj Bhushan Choudhary, Dr. Indranand Mishra and Lalan @ Ravi Bhushan Choudhary; PW-46, Dr. Ram Krishna Prasad Singh, who conducted the post-mortem examination on the dead body of Anil Kumar Jha; PW-43, Dr. Upendra Nath, who examined the injuries of Chandra Shekhar Choudhary, Mani Kumari, Maheshwari Devi, Uma Devi, Satyendra Jha, Saraswati Devi, Anil Kumar Jha (while alive), Urmila Devi, Murti Devi, Ram Chandra Mahto, Abinash Choudhary, Dauli, Arvind Kumar, Usha Mishra, Rit