The principle of discrimination should be applied in awarding sentences in cases of murder, even where there is a criminal conspiracy.

Headnote:
CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY - MURDER - UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY - CONFESSIONS - EVIDENCE ACT, SECTIONS 10, 30 - INDIAN PENAL CODE, SECTIONS 120-B, 302, 307 - Held, on the evidence, that there was a criminal conspiracy to commit the murders of Dattatraya and the members of his family. The confessional statements of accused Nos. 10 and 11 are good evidence as against the makers, but they cannot be used as evidence against the other accused. The principle of discrimination should be applied in awarding sentences in cases of murder, even where there is a criminal conspiracy. Sentences of death passed on accused Nos. 10 and 11 set aside and sentences of imprisonment for life imposed. Sentences of imprisonment for life imposed on accused Nos. 9 and 12.
Fact of the Case:

Five members of a family and a servant were killed in a brutal and callous crime. The accused, who were residents of the same village as the victims, were charged with criminal conspiracy, murder, and being members of an unlawful assembly. Two of the accused made confessional statements, but these were retracted. The trial court convicted and sentenced the accused to death or imprisonment for life.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that there was a criminal conspiracy to commit the murders, but that the evidence was insufficient to show which accused had actually assaulted the victims. The court held that the confessional statements of the two accused could not be used as evidence against the other accused. The court also held that the principle of discrimination should be applied in awarding sentences in cases of murder, even where there is a criminal conspiracy.
Issues: 1. Whether there was a criminal conspiracy to commit the murders. 2. Whether the confessional statements of the two accused could be used as evidence against the other accused. 3. Whether the principle of discrimination should be applied in awarding sentences in cases of murder, even where there is a criminal conspiracy.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court found that there was a criminal conspiracy to commit the murders based on the evidence of strained relations between the victims and the accused, the purchase of knives by the accused shortly before the murders, and the presence of the accused at the scene of the crime. 2. The court held that the confessional statements of the two accused could not be used as evidence against the other accused because they were made after the object of the conspiracy had been carried out and could not have reference to any common intention animating the co-conspirators. 3. The court held that the principle of discrimination should be applied in awarding sentences in cases of murder, even where there is a criminal conspiracy, because the mere existence of a dispute does not invite the commission of murder and it is not a case of mathematical equation.
Final Decision: The sentences of death passed on accused Nos. 10 and 11 were set aside and sentences of imprisonment for life were imposed. Sentences of imprisonment for life were imposed on accused Nos. 9 and 12.

Judgment -

1. This case is, I think, notable for the brutality -of a crime and the callousness with which the crime was committed. Five members of a family and a servant In the family died of injuries caused to them and the five members included a six month old child. The injuries inflicted upon these persons number 67, some of them being cither upon the abdomen or upon the chest. This is a shocking crime and will perhaps remain unsurpassed in its ferocity, but the Courts approach to the evidence in the case must be dispassionate and free from "prejudice and the examination of the evidence must be fair find just in fixing the guilt upon the accused persons and in this connection, we will bear in mind the observations made by the Supreme Court in the case of Kashmira Singh State of Madhya pradesh, 1952 SCR 526: (AIR 1952 SC 159) (A). There their Lordships observed as follows:

"Where the murder committed is a particularly cruel and revolting one, it is necessary to examine the evidence with more than ordinary care lest the shocking nature of the crime night induce an instinctive reaction against a dispassionate judicial scrutiny of the facts and law."

2. The circumstances in which that crime was committed may now be stated. One Ramkrishna Keshav Joshi resides at Chafe, a village in the Ratnagiri Taluka of the Ratnagiri District. Ram krishna was given in adoption his name in the natural family being Govind and he is known as such. At the material time which is the 22nd February 1958 his family consisted of his wife Radhabai, his two sons Dattatraya and Shankar, Dattatrayas wife Sulochanabai and Dattatrayas three children, a daughter Shalini and two sons, Suryakant and Chandrakant. Shankar lives in Bombay. The family had on the material date two servants Bhagya Manjrekar, a permanent servant, and Balu Veer, a temporary employee. Ram-krishna used to spend his day time in the house of his natural father with the members of his family, but used to sleep at night in the house of his adoptive father. In the evening of the 22nd February 1956 Ramkrishna went to the house of his adoptive father, leaving the members of his family in the house of his natural father.

3. In the village of Chafe there are about 250 houses. Of these, twenty houses are situated in a locality known as Maharwada. There are ten or twelve Knots at Chafe. Ramkrishna Joshi, Shri-krishna Shevde and Bhargave Puranik, being some of the Khots. Ramkrishna owns extensive lands. They measure 150 acres and are assess;d at Rs. 65/- After the abolition of the Khoti, inquiry was commenced in the village about Knot Nisbat lands and a survey was started in Dec. 1955. The persons concerned with the survey were residing in the house of Ramkrishnas adoptive father. Dattatraya was giving instructions to the Survey Officers on behalf of all Khots. Dattatraya was also ma-, naging the family affairs perhaps owing to the old age of his father Ramkrishna who had executed in Dattatrayas favour a Mukhtyarpatra or a Dower of attorney. Dattatraya was also looking to the Court-work of his brother Khots and at the survey measurement Dattatraya represented the Khots, while accused Nos. 1, 2 and 6 pleaded the cause of Mahars.

4. A Gram Panchayat was established in the village of Chafe some two or three months before the date of the offence and Ramkrishna Joshi was the Chairman of the Gram Panchayat.

5. Accused Nos. 1 to 12 and absconding Bhagva are all residents of the village of Chafe, Of these, accused Nos. 1 to 7 stay at Chafe, while accused Nos. 8 to 12 and absconding Bhagya stayed at the material time in Bombay on account of service. Accused No. 8 is an employee in the service of the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Accused No. 9 is a servant in Crompton Parkinson Ltd. Accused No. 10 was a servant in a fuel depot at Vile Parle. Accused No. 11 is an employee in the Western Railway Stores, Mahalaxmi. Accused No. 12 is also in the service of Crompton Parkin-son. Ltd.. while absconding Bhagya was in the s

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