Common intention in criminal law permits liability for murder by participants even without direct evidence of the act, inferred through circumstantial evidence and actions during the commission of the crime.

1. Both the appeals are directed against a single judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 19.12.2013 passed by learned Sessions Judge, North Tripura District, Kailashahar in Sessions Trial Case No.8(NT / K)2013, whereunder both the appellants were found guilty of the charges framed against them under S.448 read with S.34 of IPC and S.302 read with S.34 of IPC and the learned Sessions Judge by the impugned judgment and order sentenced them to suffer R.I. for six months for commission of offence punishable under S.448 read with S.34 of IPC and for commission of offence punishable under S.302 read with S.34 of IPC to suffer R.I. for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- in default of payment to suffer further R.I. for six months.

2. Heard learned senior counsel, Mr. P.K. Biswas, assisted by learned counsel, Mr. P. Majumder for the appellant, Nani Kanta Das of Cri.A.(J) No.11 of 2014 and learned counsel, Mr. P. Roy Barman for the appellant, Tukan Sharma of Cri.A.(J) No.4 of 2014. This common judgment is passed in respect of both the appeals.

3. Prosecution case is that on the intervening night of 12.05.2012 and 13.05.2012 at about 12.30 a.m., the informant Bidhu Bhushan Das (PW1) with his other family members were sleeping in his residential hut at village South Chandipur, P.S. Kailashahar and at that time he and his family members woke up hearing alarm raised by some people, 'thief thief'. Someone knocked on the door of his hut and after lighting a kerosene lamp Bidhu Bhushan Das (hereinafter mentioned as Bidhu) and his wife, Basanti Das (PW2) came out of the hut and found the accused appellant, Nani Kanta Das with a dao in one hand and a torchlight in other hand and accused Tukan Sharma with a lathi in hand and they asked Bidhu that the thief entered in his hut but Bidhu denied and then both the accused entered in his residential hut and made a search for the thief but did not found anybody. Thereafter both the accused made a search in his abandoned kitchen hut of Bidhu and found a person alleged to be the thief there and they started inflicting dao and lathi blows on that person inside that abandoned hut to which Bidhu and his wife tried to resist the accused persons but they threatened him and in the meantime many people from the neighbourhood gathered and one Jyotish Das (PW3), a co - villager restrained the accused persons from assaulting Bidhu and thereafter the accused persons left the place. It was a dark night. Many people gathered there and they found the person who was assaulted by Nani and Tukan, lying dead in a pool of blood in the abandoned kitchen hut of Bidhu and he was identified as Gopi Mohan Das, a teacher by profession of that village and in the meantime the mother and sister of Gopi Mohan also arrived and identified dead body of Gopi Mohan Das. It is the case of the prosecution that Gopi Mohan died an instantaneous death on the spot itself.
Many people arrived in the house of Bidhu and it is the case of the prosecution that Bidhu and his wife Basanti narrated the occurrence of assault by accused Nani Kanta Das and Tukan Sharma on the deceased Gopi Mohan Das to all those witnesses.
PW9 Arup Ratan Das, who arrived at the spot hearing the alarm, over telephone informed Kailashahar P.S. about the occurrence and SI Lakhyabir Jamatia (PW22) recorded G.D. Entry No.551 dated 13.05.2012 at 0145 hrs. in the Kailashahar P.S. on the basis of the telephonic information given by PW9 and the copy of that G.D. made by PW22 has been proved as Exbt.10. Immediately thereafter by making G.D. No.553, SDPO along