The court established that a conspiracy requires clear evidence of a mutual agreement to commit an illegal act, and individual culpability must be distinctly proven; otherwise, the accused cannot be convicted.

JUDGMENT

Vinod Chandran, J.

Conspiracy, political enmity and mistaken identity together resulted in the murder of an innocent person, leaving his family rudderless. Equally rudderless was the investigation, accuse the defence; of whom A1 to A4 were arraigned for their antecedents and A5 to A11 for their political affiliation. A8 died when the appeal was pending. The legal heirs of A8 is impleaded and they challenge the conviction.

2. On the night of 02.03.2014 at about 8.45 or 9.15 p.m, PW1 & PW2 along with the deceased were sitting in a heap of sand, in the property of PW7, where a residential construction was going on. PW3 joined them and while they were chatting, A1 to A5 arrived at the spot with lethal weapons. The assailants attacked the deceased, PW1 & PW2 resulting in the death of the former and grievous injury to PW1 & PW2. The prosecution case is that A1 to A4 are goondas, who were engaged by the rival political party, on a 'quotation' to murder PW48, an active member of a political party. A5, an affiliate of the CPI(M) and a neighbour of PW48, accompanied A1 to A4 to the scene of occurrence so as to identify him, an active member of BJP. At the scene of occurrence, A1 to A4 unleashed violence with lethal weapons resulting in the murder and grievous injury. A6 to A11 were alleged to be active participants in the conspiracy to murder PW48, preparation for the crime, including A1 to A4's transport to the locality, then to the scene of occurrence and later to help the assailants flee the locality.

3. At the trial, the prosecution examined PW1 to PW55, through whom were marked Exts.P1 to P117 and material objects MO1 to MO36. The defence examined DW1 to DW14 and marked D1 to D5, D7 to D11, D13 & D14 contradictions and D6, D12 and D15 to D27 documents. At the close of trial, A9 was acquitted and A1 to A8, A10 & A11 were found guilty of various offences. A1 to A5 were found guilty for the offences under S.120-B,143,147,148,302,307,326 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code [for brevity, ' IPC '] read with S.149 as also under S.27 of the Arms Act . Each of them were sentenced to undergo (I) imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.50,000/-

each under S.302 IPC read with 149 , (ii) R.I. for 7 years and fine of Rs.10,000/- under S.307 read with 149 , (iii) R.I. for 5 years and fine of Rs.10,000/- under S.326 read with 149 , (iv) R.I. for a period of 3 months under S.143, 147 and 148 , (v) R.I. for a period of 1 year and fine of Rs.5,000/- under S.201 and (vi) R.I. for a period of 3 years and fine of Rs.5,000/- under S.27 of Arms Act with default sentences for non payment of fine. Accused Nos.6 to 8, 10 & 11 were found guilty of the offence under S.120-B and each were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and fine of Rs.50,000/-, with default sentence under S.302 read with 120B . Accused 6 & 11 were also found guilty for the offence under S.212 for which each was sentenced to undergo R.I. for two years and a fine of Rs.10,000/- with default sentence.

4. According to the prosecution a conspiracy was hatched on 28.02.2014 by A1 to A8, A10 & A11 to commit the murder of PW48. In furtherance of the conspiracy, A6 procured the services of A1 to A4, history-sheeters and brought them from Pudukkad to the CPI(M) party office at Perinjanam, in his car. A1 to A4 were then taken to the house of A5, where A8 instigated the history-sheeters to commit the murder of PW48, who used to frequently visit the nearby construction site, of one Shaji, at night. A5 was entrusted with the task of identifying PW48. On 02.03.2014 at around 20.42 hours, A9 informed A7 over phone that PW48 was present at the scene of occurrence and A7 took A1 to A5 in his autorickshaw to the scene of occurrence. On A5's guidance, A1 to A4 attacked the persons sitting on a heap of sand at the construction site. After the attack unleashed on the victims, A5 took the others to the party office at Perinjanam and together with A6 to A8 they concealed the weapons in a pond behind