Advocates Appeared:
For Appellant/Petitioner/Plaintiff: R. Anand Padmanabhan, Prithvi Raj B.N. and G. Ramakrichna Prasad, Advs.
For Respondents/Defendant: T.N. Singh, Rajeev Dubey, Kamlendra Mishra and Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, Advs.

Based on the provided legal document, here are the key points regarding the conviction of the Appellant under Section 302 IPC despite being charged under Section 396 IPC:

• Cognate Offences Principle: The Supreme Court held that Section 396 (Dacoity with Murder) and Section 302 (Murder) are cognate offences. Since Section 396 incorporates the ingredients of murder (Section 302) by specific language, convicting the accused of the lesser grave offence (if the graver one is not proved) does not cause prejudice. (!) (!) (!) (!) (!)
• No Prejudice to the Accused: The Court ruled that the Appellant suffered no prejudice because the offence of murder is an integral part of the offence under Section 396. The essential ingredients of Section 302 were put to the accused during the trial, including through his statement under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. (!) (!) (!)
• Evidence Established Murder: The prosecution successfully proved the commission of murder through circumstantial evidence, including the recovery of the dead body from the sugarcane field at the Appellant's pointing out and the nature of injuries (severing of the trachea) found during the post-mortem. (!) (!) (!) (!)
• Judicial Precedent: The Court relied on the Constitution Bench judgment in Shyam Behari v. State of U.P., which established that an accused charged under Section 396 can be convicted under Section 302 if the evidence proves the individual commission of murder, provided the accused had fair notice of the allegations. (!)
• Statutory Provisions: The judgment analyzed the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, noting that Section 396 requires five or more persons committing dacoity where one commits murder, thereby making the elements of murder (Section 302) inherent in the charge. (!) (!) (!)
• Appeal Dismissed: Consequently, the appeal was dismissed as the conviction under Section 302 IPC was upheld as lawful and without failure of justice. (!)