The court affirmed that all members of an unlawful assembly are liable for actions taken in support of their common objective, showcasing the interplay between direct and circumstantial evidence in establishing culpability.

JUDGMENT :

URMILA JOSHI-PHALKE, J.

1. By these appeals, appellants (the accused persons) have challenged judgment and order dated 14.2.2014 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nagpur (learned Judge of the trial court) in Sessions Trial No.219/2011.

2. By the said judgment impugned in these appeals, the accused persons are convicted for offence punishable under Section 143 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo three months rigorous imprisonment and pay fine Rs.200/-, in default, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days.

They are further convicted for offence punishable under Section 144 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and pay fine Rs.200/-, in default, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days.

They are also convicted for offence punishable under Section 147 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and pay fine Rs.200/-, in default, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days.

They are also convicted for offence punishable under Section 148 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 6 months and pay fine Rs.300/-, in default, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days.

They are convicted for offence punishable under Section 302 read with 149 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and pay fine Rs.300/-, in default, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 15 days.

3. Brief facts of the prosecution case emerge from police papers, are as under:

(A) The FIR came to be registered on the basis of a report lodged by Deva @ Devdas Laxman Shendekar, the brother of Dinesh (the deceased), on an allegation that the deceased was his younger brother. The accused persons are residents of the same locality and residing in front of his house and, therefore, he is acquainted to them. On 17.1.2011, there was a quarrel between brother of the deceased Guddu Laxman Shendekar and accused Rajesh Ramprasad Kuhikar on account of money. On 19.1.2011, at about 9:30 pm, when informant Deva was standing in front of his house, the accused persons came in front of his house possessing in their hands swords. Accused Devanand Chaitram Kuhikar has hit glass of window and broken it and they disclosed that they have killed his brother. After hearing the same, immediately, informant Deva rushed to the spot at Rajgire Lane. He saw the deceased lying in pool of blood who has sustained swords injuries on his abdomen, throat, fingers, and hands. Amol Kumbhalkar was also there, who has also sustained injuries and was sitting near the dead body of his brother. Amol Kumbhalkar informed him that the accused persons killed his brother by assaulting him by weapons. When he intervened in the quarrel, he was also assaulted by them on his abdomen. He immediately rushed to the police station. The police have already received the information about the incident. Thereafter, the police came along with him at the spot and prepared spot panchanama. The police have seized various articles there and, thereafter, they have obtained his report. On the basis of the said report, the police registered the crime against the accused persons.

(B) After registration of the crime, wheels of investigation started rotating. During the investigation, the investigating officer has visited the alleged spot of the incident and has drawn spot panchanama. They have also drawn inquest panchanama and forwarded the dead body of the deceased for conducting postmortem examination. They have seized clothes of the deceased and the accused persons. The accuse