Holding

The appellants cannot be convicted under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC as there is no evidence of a common object or participation in the unlawful assembly, and thus the conviction is set aside.

Summary

The case involved an altercation between two groups that culminated in the death of Moti Suklabaidya. The appellants, Munna Chanda and Ujjal, were convicted by the trial court and the High Court under Section 302 IPC read with Section 149 IPC for murder, based largely on the testimony of prosecution witnesses. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the appellants were members of an unlawful assembly with a common object to kill and whether the prosecution had proved their participation. The Court found no direct or reliable circumstantial evidence linking the appellants to the fatal assault, no proof of a common object, and no identification of them in the FIR or by witnesses. Consequently, Sections 149 and 34 IPC were held not to apply, and the appellants were acquitted, with the conviction set aside and the appeal allowed.

Issues considered

Whether the appellants can be held liable for murder under Section 302 IPC read with Section 149 IPC in the absence of proof of a common object to kill.
Whether the prosecution established that the appellants were members of an unlawful assembly at the time of the offence.
Whether the circumstantial evidence presented was sufficient to sustain a conviction.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 149, s. 302, s. 34

Subjects

murderunlawful assemblycommon objectbenefit of doubtcircumstantial evidenceIPC 302IPC 149acquittal

Judgment

_,-~ MUNNA CHANDA
fJ
A
v.
STATE OF ASSAM

FEBRUARY 24, 2006

[S.B. SINHA AND DALVEER BHANDARI, JJ.] B

~ Penal Code, 1860-Section 302 read with 149-Altercation between
two groups-Homicidal death of one person-Conviction under section 3021
149-Justification of-Held: There was no evidence to show that accused had
common object of intentional killing of the deceased and role, played by accused c
- I

either conjointly or individually in causing the death-Nor established that
they were members of unlawfal assembly-Thus, neither section 34' nor section
149 /PC attracted-Hence, cannot be convicted under section 3021149 !PC
and are entitled to benefit of doubt.
D
There was an altercation between two groups of persons. Homicidal
____,
death of M belonging to one of the group was caused. Appellants were
+ charged under section 302 IPC for intentionally causing death of M. Both
Trial Court and High Court convicted them on basis of the depositions of
_prosecution witnesses. Hence the present appeal.
E
Allowing the appeals, the Court

HELD: 1.1 In the instant case, appellants were not armed with
weapons. Except B, they were not parties to all the three stages of the
dispute. At the third stage of the quarrel, they wanted to teach deceased
- and others a lesson. For picking up quarrel with B, they might have F
-----;
become agitated and demanded apologies from M~ It was so done at the
instance of one. M who was assaulted by B at the instance of another in
the group. However, M while being assaulted could free himself from the
grip of the appellants and fled from the scene. Deceased was being chased
not only by the appellants but by many others. He was found dead next
G
morning. (473-B-C!
1
1· 1.2. No evidence has been brought on r1cords to establish that the
appellants M and U had committed any offence. They were not named in
the FIR. They were not identified in the dock. No witness has taken their
467 H
468 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] 2 S.<;:.R.

A names as the persons who committed any oven act. No recovery has been .,- ,
made from them. There is also no evidence that they had chased the
deceased. [473-G)

1.3. It cannot be said that the appellants had common object of
intentional killing of the deceased. There is no evidence as to who had
B assaulted him and at whose hands he received injuries. Role played by
accused either conjointly or individually in ca vising death of the deceased
is not known. It is also not' known as to whether if one or all of the
appellants were present, when the last blow was given. It has not been
established that the appellants were members of an unlawful assembly.
C The finding of guilt of the appellants was arrived at only on basis of two
circumstantial evidence that they had chased tl~e deceased; and that they
had prepared and forced the prosecution witnesses to sign a sulhanama
wherein a statement was made that they wot:ld not file any complaint
against the accused. Therefore, neither section 34 nor section 149 IPC is
attracted. Appellants cannot be convicted for commission of an offence
D under section 302/149 IPC. They are entitled to benefit of doubt.
[473-C, D, G, H; 474-A)

Dharam Pal and Ors. v. State of Haryana, [1978) 4 SCC 440 and
Shambhu Kuer v. State of Bihar, AIR (1982) SC 1228, relied on.

E Bishna @ Bhiswadeb Mahato & Ors. v. State of West Bengal, (2005) 9
SCALE, 204, referred to.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 49
of 2005.

F From the Judgment and Order dated 21.9.2004 of the Gauhati High
Court in Cr!. A. No. 37/2003.
....
WITH

Criminal Appeal Nos. 840/2005, 84112005, 842/2005 and 25112005.
G
J.C. Gupta, Manish Goswami (for Mis. Map & Co.), Sanjay Hegde,
Azim H. Laskar, Anand, Rajneesh Singh, A.K. Mishra, A.R. Singh, Abhijit
Sengupta and Ramesh Chandra Pandey, AC (NP) for the Appellant.

Sidharth Luthra, Krishna Sharma, V.K. Sidharthan, Ms. Rajni Gupta
H and Mis. Corporate Law Group for the Respondent.
MUNNA CHANDA v. STATE OF ASSAM [SINHA, J.] 469
The Judgment of the Court was delivere by A
S.B. SINHA, J. The appellants were charged for commission of an
offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for intentionally causing
death of one Moti Suklabaidya. 3.10.1995 was the 'NA VMI'. The deceased
went to join 'Durga Puja' festival along with Sushendra Chandra-PW3 and
Babu! Chanda. They met with one Tapan Chanda near Chandranathpur Railway B
Station. He latter informed them that Tunu Chanda and Montu Chanda had
assaulted him in front of a jewellery shop belonging to Makhan Chanda-
.ii PW2. Gauaranga s/o Makhan Chanda-PW2 in the meantime came and
informed his father that the said Tunu Chanda and Montu Chanda had
quarreled and broke a glass pane of his showroom. Makhan Lal-PW2 C
immediately came to the Bazar. He found his younger brother Sushendra-
PW3. Babu! Chanda and deceased Moti Suklabaidya in front of his shop.
Having asked the reason of quarrel and consequent breaking of the glass of
the show room, he was informed that the dispute has been settled by Ambika
Sahu-PW6. Thereafter the deceased Moti, Sushendra-PW3, Babu! and Makhan
Lal-PW2 entered into a tea stall belonging to Siba Prasad Shome-PW7 to D
have tea. Bhuttu@ Raju Singh, who is admittedly the younger brother of one
-i Ganesh was employed in the said shop as a servant. The aforementioned "
persons were taking tea in a cabin of the tea stall. In the meantime, some
ladies walked therein and asked for separate seats whereupon Bhuttu asked
the abovementioned four boys to vacate the cabin which led to an altercation. E
However, on the intervention of the owner of the tea stall the boys left the
shop and went 'watch repairing' shop belonging to Nirmal Chanda-PW4. The
appellant Bhuttu came there and wanted to know as to why he made complaint
to his employer about the earlier incident. He had also asked him to come out
of the shop. On the intervention of the owner of the said 'watch repairing'
shop the matter subsided. Bhuttu however, came again and scolded Moti, F
~...., whereupon Nirmal Chanda-PW4 again intervened. According to the
prosecution case, accused Bhuttu came again with Ratan Das, Billu and Kartik
and some other persons. They asked Moti (deceased) and others to come out
of the shop whereupon Nirmal-PW4 intervened and impressed upon Moti
and others to seektheir apology. When Moti (deceased) in a bid to apologize G
touched the feet of accused Bhuttu, Ratan Das asked him to catch hold of
him and they started assaulting him. Tapan Chanda was also assaulted by
-i them. He took shelter in a nearby shop: Moti (deceased), however, freed
l himself from the grip of the appellants and ran towards the Railway Station.
He was chased by the appellants and others. The prosecution witnesses and
others in the meantime, bolted themselves inside the shop. They came out H
470 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] 2 S.C.R.

A about half an hour thereafter and found the mark~t area deserted. Thereafter,
they went to the house of Moti (deceased) and inquired from his brother-
PWI as to whether he had returned. On being informed that he had not, they
went to the house of Ambika Prasad-PW6 who advised them to search for
him. On the next morning on receiving an inforn1ation that a dead body was
lying near a canal. They went to the spot and found the same to be that of
B Moti (deceased). The brother of the deceased - PWI lodged a first information
report wherein he named Bhuttu (describing him as a younger brother of
Ganesh), Ratan Das Gupta s/o unknown, Billo Deb s/o unknown. Kartik Deb
s/o unknown and 20/25 others.

C The appellant were put on trial. The prosecution in support of its case
examined 11 witnesses. There was no direct evidence. There was no eye
witness to the occurrence. The materials which were brought on record to
prove circumstantial evidence in the case by the prosecution were: (I) That
some of the appellants were chasing the deceased with others; (2) So called
'Sulahanama' was prepared which had been signed inter alia by PW-2, PW-
D 3 and others representing that they would not m~ any complaint against the
appellants.

PW- I is the informant. He was not a witness to any part of the
occurrence. PW-2 is Makhanlal Chanda, the glass of whose shop was broken.
He was a witness to the entire occurrence. Apart from supporting the statements
E made in the first information report, he stated that appellant Ratanlal Chanda
took his signature on a written paper which contained an assurance on their
behalf that no case would be filed in relation to the incident. He further
alleged that the appellant U]al had escorted the:m from the market. In his
cross-examination, however, it was pointed out that he had stated before the
p police that when the appellant Bhuttu came, six persons accompanied him
whose names he did not know. In his cross-examination he further stated that
it was a dark night so he could not see who had assembled in front of the
shop. PW-11 the Investigating Officer, however! accepted that the witnesses
had stated before him that while appellant Bhuttu had come, other six persons
had accompanied him whose names he did not know. PW-2 had further
G stated before him that from inside the shop he had felt that some people were
chasing the deceased. He further stated that he saw the accused persons
chasing the deceased towards Chandranathpur Railway Station. ,.

PW-3 apart from being a witness upto the point of chasing of the
JI deceased by the appellant and others, is one of them who had gone the house
MUNNA CHANDA v. STATE OF ASSAM [SINHA. J.] 471

,, '-,· · of Moti (deceased) and upon being told that he had not come back, went to A
the residence of Ambika Sahu on the next morning.

PW-4 is Nirmal Chanda. He witnessed a part of occurrence. In his
cross-examination, however, he stated that the persons who came with Bhuttu
were not seen in the dock. He was not declared hostile.
B
PW-5 Uttam Chandals-a-Witness to the inquest report. PW-6 is Ambika
Prasad Sahu. He accepted that at about 11.00 p.m. all the accused persons
Jc had come to his house and handed over a Sulahanama paper which had been
seized from him by the police. He could not say as to how Moti (deceased)
was done to death. He also could not say as about the quarrel between the C
accused and deceased. PW-7 Siba Prasad Shome was the owner of the tea
stall, wherein, the first quarrel between BhuWJ on the one hand and Moti and
others, on the other, took place. In his cross-examination he stated that the
quarrel between Bhuttu and other boys was settled amicably and all the boys
left in a happy mood. PW-8 is Somnath. He was the owner of a hotel at
Chandranathpur Bazar. He allegedly heard cries of a quarrel. He stated that D
later on the matter was settled amicably. He was declared hostile. PW-9 is
Dr. K.K. Chakraborty. He conducted post mortem examination of the deceased.
;
He found the following anti mortem ·injuries on the dead body of Moti
(deceased):

"I. Lacerated injury right ear 2 x Yi cm. x whole thickness blood drop E
are ardent to tissue.

2. Cut injury left lobule of ear I x Yi x '!. cm. blood drops are
adherent to the tissue.

3. Cut injury left side of scrutum 2 x 1 x com x left tostis. p
4. Lacerated injury lower lip left side 1 x I x Yi x '!. cm.

Contusion under the scalp in left will temparo partial are present A
skull was healthy.

Subhdwal herrnonage on left side on left side of brain present." G
According to him injury Nos. 1 and 2 could be caused by material Ex.
I which was seized by the police from near the place where the dead body
was found. It was a root of a tree. PW- I0 Swapan Chakraborty is an Asstt.
Station Master. He was the Station Master of Railway Station. He merery
H
472 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006) 2 S.C.R.

A stated that in the night a boy came to him and wanted a torch light which was
given and the same was returned to him after 15-20 minutes. PW-11 Fazlur
Rahman is the Investigating Officer.

In the First Information Report or in the evidence, appellants Munna
and Ujjal were not named. They were not identified in the dock. No recovery
B was made from them. They were not named by any of the prosecution
witnesses as having taken any part in the commis>ion of the offence. As
against Uijal the only evidence was he had obtained the signature of one of
A
the prosecution witness.

The learned Sessions Judge as also the High Court recorded the judgment
C of conviction and sentence relying on or the basis of the depositions of PW-
2 and PW-3. It was accepted that there was no dirc:ct evidence in regard to
the role played by any of the appellants in causing the death ofMoti (deceased).
As noticed hereinbefore, the finding of guilt of the appellants was arrived at
only on the basis of two circumstantial evidence that (I) they had chased the
D deceased; (2) they had prepared and forced the prosecution witnesses to sign
a Sulhanama wherein a statement was made that they would not file any
complaint against the accused. Homicidal death of Moti is undisputed. There
is no evidence as to who had assaulted him. Rolt: played by the accused
either conjointly or individually in causing death of the deceased is not known.
Some offence was committed, but who did so is known. Whether in the
E aforementioned situation, all the accused would be convicted with the aid of
Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code is the q1.1estion.

The concept of common object, it is well known, is different from
common intention. It is true that so far as common object is concerned no
F prior concert is required. Common object can be formed at the spur of the
moment. Course of conduct adopted by the members of the assembly, however, ,.. .
is a relevant factor. At what point of time the common object of the unlawful
assembly was formed would depend upon the facts and circumstances of
each case.

G Section 149 !PC creates a specific and distinct offence. There are two
essential ingredients thereof:

(I) Commission of an offence_ by any member of an unlawful
assembly, and
(I) Such offence must have been committed in prosecution of the
H common object of that assembly or must be such as the member
MUNNA CHANDA v. STATE OF ASSAM [SINHA, J.] 473
,J.. ,,_,,. of that assembly knew to be likely to be committed. A
It is, thus, essential to prove that the person sought to be charged with
an offence with the aid of Section 149 was a member of the unlawful assembly
at the time the offence was committed.

The appellants herein were not armed with weapons. They except Bhuttu B
were not parties to all the three stages of the dispute. At the third stage of
.I
the quarrel, they wanted to teach the deceased and others a lesson. For picking
.,\ up quarrel with Bhuttu, they might have become agitated and asked for
apologies from Moti. Admittedly, it was so done at the instance of Nirmal,
Moti was assaulted by Bhuttu at the instance of Rattan. However, it cannot
be said that they had common object of intentional killing of the deceased. c
Moti, however, while being assaulted could free himself from the grip of the
appellants and fled from the scene. The deceased, was being chased not by
the appellant herein but by many others. He was found dead next morning.
There is, however, nothing to show as to what role the appellants either
conjointly or separately played. It is also not know as to whether if one or D
all of the appellants were present, when the last blow was given. Who are
~ those, who had assaulted the deceased is also not known. At whose hands he
f received injuries is again a mystery. Neither Section 34 nor Section 149 of
the Indian Penal Code is, therefore, attracted. [See Dharam Pal and Ors. v.
State Of Haryana, [1978] 4 SCC 440 and Shambhu Kuer v. State of Bihar,
AIR (1982) SC 1228). E

We are, however, not obliviously that in Bishna@ Bhiswaded Mahato
and Ors. v. State of West Bengal, (2005) 9 SCALE 204, it )Vas stated

"For the purpose of attracting Section 149 and/or 34 IPC, a specific
overt act on the part of the accused is not necessary. He may wait and F
--~
watch inaction on the part of an accused may some time go a long
way to hold that he shared a common object with others."

Furthermore, it is evident that no evidence has been brought on records
to establish that appellants Munna and Ujjal had committed any offence. As
noticed hereinbefore, they were not named in the FIR. They were not identified G
in the dock. No witness has taken their names as the persons who committed
-1 any overt act. No recovery has been made from them. There is also no
' evidence that they had chased the deceased. As it had not been established
that the appellants were members of an unlawful assembly, in our opinion,
.I they could not have been convicted for commission of an offence under H
474 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006) 2 S.C.R.

A Section 30/49 l.P.C.
For the aforementioned reasons, the appellants cannot be held guilty
for commission of an offence under Section 302/149 of the lPC. They are
entitled to benefit of doubt.

B The appeals are allowed. The judgment of :onviction and sentence
passed against the appellants are set aside. They are directed to set at liberty
unless wanted in connection with any other case. There shall be no order as
to costs. A

N.J. Appeals allowed.

;