JUDGMENT

K. N. SAIKIA, J. :— This appeal by special leave is from the judgment of the High Court of judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No. 680 of 1976 dismissing the appeal of the four instant appellants namely, Lalji Mansa, Milkhi and Bhagwati, and upholding their conviction and sentence of life imprisonment under Ss. 302/149 and also the conviction of Milkhi with sentence of two years R. 1. under S. 148, I. P.C. and of the other three appellants under S. 147, I.P.C. with sentence of one year R.I.

2. The facts are simple. On 24-6-1975 at noon Manju, son of Girdhari Lal, man-handled Chhotey Lal and Mansa, nephews of Minister Lal, after they gave him (Manju) a push. The prosecution. version was that Minister Lal with a cane in hand, Chhotey Lal with a Kanta, Milkhi and Chainu with spears and others with lathis arrived near Girdhari Lals house and after an altercation started assaulting Girdhari and Siddhu. The alarm attracted Ram Avtar and Manju who came there. The appellant party started assaulting them also whereupon they retreated to their house but were followed by Minister Lal, Lalji and others of the party. Girdhari Lal and Siddhu died in consequence of the assault. Ram Avtar picked up the loaded gun of his father Girdhari and fired a shot at Minister Lal who fell down dead and by another shot he injured Lalji.

3. The defence version was that Girdhari Lal summoned Minister Lal to his house and the accused persons came with or after Minister Lal. This resulted in a cross case on Laljis F.I.R. (Ex. Ka-19). It has admittedly resulted in acquittal.

4. The present case was registered under F.I.R. (Ex. Ka-1) upon the information lodged by Babu Ram son of Siddhu at P.S. Maigalganj. Altogether eleven persons, including the appellants herein faced trial. The learned trial court relying on the evidence of the three eye-witnesses convicted eight and acquitted three of them, namely, Ram Lotan, Kripa Dayal and Barkau. The eight convicted persons were appellants before the High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 680 of 1976. Out of them conviction of four appellants was upheld while the other four, namely, Shiv Kumar, Chhotey Lal, Munna and Chainu were acquitted by the High Court..

5. The learned counsel for the appellants Mr. R.L. Kohli, Sr. Advocate submits that as out of the eleven persons three were acquitted by the trial court and four were acquitted by the High Court as there was no corroboration in their cases, the position of two of the appellants, namely, Milkhi and Bhagwati remains the same and they must also be similarly acquitted for want of corroboration.

6. The learned counsel for the State Mr. Prithvi Raj, Sr. Advocate counters submitting that when the appellants have been convicted under S. 302/149, I.P.C. the question of corroboration in case of individual appellants would not arise, and there is enough corroboration in the evidence including medical evidence on record to prove that they were members of the unlawful assembly when the offence was committed.

7. The precise question to be decided in this appeal, therefore, is whether in view of death caused to Girdhari and Siddhu by the unlawful assembly which is punishable under S. 302 with the aid of S. 149, I.P.C. the corroboration as to participation of each individual member of the assembly would be necessary, and if so, whether in the instant case there is such corroboration.

8. Section 149, I.P.C. provides that if an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly in prosecution of the common object of that assembly, or such as the members of the assembly knew to be likely to be committed in prosecution of that object, every person, who at the time of committing of that offence is a member of the same assembly, is guilty of that offence. As has been defined in S. 141, I.P.C., an assembly of five or more persons is designated an Un-lawful Assembly, if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is to do any act or acts stated in clauses First, Sec