ONKAR & ANR.versusSTATE OF U.P.

                        [2012] 2 S.C.R. 1164


A                          ONKAR & ANR.
                                  v.
       '•;
                            STATE OF U.P.
                  (Criminal Appeal No. 1840 of 2008)
                         JANUARY 18, 2012
B
             [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN AND T.S. THAKUR, JJ.] .

          Penal Code, 1860 - ss.3021149, 3071149 and 452 -
    Common object - Armed assault by appellants and five other
C   accused - Murder of PW2's uncle - Injuries to son and
    daughter of PW2 - Conviction of appellants by Courts below
    - Challenged - Held: PW2 fully supported the case of
    prosecution - His evidence was totally corroborated by PW3
    and PW4 - Injury reports stood proved by Dr. (PW1) and
o   Dr. (PIN?) in the court and they corroborated the prosecution
    version - FIR was lodged most promptly within a period of 3
    hours of the incident though the police station was at a
    distance of 3 miles from the place of occurrence - The
    appellants were specifically named - The other co-accused
E   who were not the residents of the village where the offence was
    committed, had been duly identified in Test Identification
    Parade as well as in court by all the three eye-witnesses -
    Witnesses deposed that not a single article was looted nor any
    attempt had be~n made to commit dacoity, rather it was
F   specifically stated that all the assailants/miscreants declared
    that no one would be left alive and had been exhorting one
    another to eliminate all- All the assailants came together and
    participated in the crime - The offence was committed at mid-
    night - From a collective reading of the entire evidence, ·
    inference can safely be drawn that the assailants had an object
G   to commit murder of persons on the victims' side and they
    participated in the crime - Graveness of charges against the
    accused-appellants that they in concert with other accused to
    achieve a common object entered into the house of the PW21

H                               1164
            ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                  1165


 complainant stood proved - Conviction of appellants                A
 accordingly upheld.

     Evidence - Witnesses ~ Related witnesses - Held:
 Evidence of closely related witnesses is required to be
 carefully scrutinised and appreciated - In· case, the evidence
                                                                    8
 has a ring of truth, is cogent, credible and trustworthy it ca[7
 be relied upon.

       According to the prosecution, the two appellants and
 five other accused in concert with each other and to
 c:tehieve a common object entered into the house of the            C
 PW2, the appellants armed with country-made pistols and
 the other accused armed with lathi, bhala etc. and caused
·the death of PW2's uncle ('0') and injuries to PW2's
 daughter ('T') and son ('C'). The trial court convicted all
 the accused. The appellants were convicted under                   D
 Section 302/149; 3071149 and Section 452 IPC and
 sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, the High
 Court upheld ·the conviction and maintained the
 sentence.
                                                                    E
      The appellants challenged their conviction before
 this Court inter alia on grounds that only close relatives
 of the deceased '0' were examined and that in the facts
 and circumstance~ of the case, the provisions of Section
 149 IPC were not attracted and the prosecution failed to           F
 prove that there was unlawful assembly constituted for
 the purpose of executing a common object.

     Dismissing
          .  . . . the. appeal, the Court

       HELD:1. The prosecution examined 3 eye-witnesses.            G
· According to PW.2 (complainant), the victims' side had
 ·earlier filed criminal .cases against some of the accused
. persons. In one case,. they had been convicted and in
  another case they had been acquitted. In so far as this
  incident is .concerned, PW.2 has fully supported the case         H
    1166      SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [2012] 2 S.C.R.

A of the prosecution. This witness deposed that accused
  Bira was having a gun and the appellants were having
  country made pistols and the other accused were armed
  with lathi and ballom etc. In order to save himself from
  the assailants, PW.2 jumped in the house of his other
8 uncle 'B' while 'O' climbed down from the roof. The
  a_ccused had a scuffle with 'O' who suffered a gun shot
  injury. The accused al~o tried to break the door of the
  room of '0' and when the door was not broken, they fired
  shot at the door and bullets from the ventilatior of the
C house due to which 'C' and 'T' suffered fire injuries. In
  this incident, accused 'MS' also got injured. His evidence
  is totally corroborated by PW.3 and PW.4. [Para 7) (1176-
  D-G].

           2. It is a settled legal proposition that evidence of
D closely related witnesses is required to be carefully
  scrutinised and appreciated before resting of conclusion
  as regards the convict/accused in a given case. In case,
  the evidence has a ring of truth, is cogent, credible and
  trustworthy it can be relied upon. There is nothing on
E record to show that at the time of cross-examination of
  the Investigating Officer (PW.6), any of the accused ~ad
  put him a question as to why the other witnesses have
  not been examined. [Para 7] (1176-H; 1177-A-B]
                                             .
F       Himanshu v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2011) 2 SCC 36:
    2011 (1) SCR 48 and Ranjit Singh & Ors. v. State of Madhya
    Pradesh (2011) 4 SCC 336: 2010 (14) SCR 133 - relied on.
         3. Injury reports stood proved by Dr. (PW.1) and Dr.
    (PW.7) in the court and they corroborate the prosecution
G version. In spite of the fact that the accused 'MS' got
    injured but no grievance has ever been raised by him in
    this regard. The Trial Court has rightly taken note of It and
    reached the correct conclusion that it supports the case
  . of the prosecution and establishes the presence of 'MS'
H at the place of occurrence and his participation in the
          ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P..               1167


crime. 'MS' himself could not explain as under what             A
circumstances such· injuries had been caused to him.
[Para 8] [1177-C-E] ·

     4. The courts below reached the correct conclusion
that it is highly improbable that the witnesses would .
                                                           8
screen and spare the real assailants and falsely enroped
the appellants and others only because of old enmity. Had
it been so, there could have been no reason to involve
at least four other accused persons in the crime,
particularly, 'MS', Suresh, Ahmad Sayeed and Omveer.
Admittedly, the FIR was lodged most promptly within a C
period of 3 hours of the incident at 2.50 A.M. though the
police station was at a distance of 3 miles from the place
of occurrence. So far as the appellants are concerned,
they have specifically been named. The other co-accused
who were not the residents of the village where the D
offence has been committed, had been duly identified in
Test Identification Parade as well as in court by all the
three eye-witnesses. [Para 9] [1177-F-H; 1178-A]

     5. There is no force in the submission that in the facts   E
and circumstances of the case provisions of Section 149
IPC were not attracted, for the reason, that this court has
been very cautious in the catena of judgments that where
general allegations are made against a large number of
persons the court would categorically scrutinise the            i=
evidence and hesitate to convict the large number of
persons if the evidence available on record is vague. It
is obligatory on the part of the court to examine that if the
offence committed is not in direct prosecution of the
common object, it may yet fall under second part of             G
Section 149 IPC, which states that if the offence was such
as the members knew was likely to be committed. Further
inference has to be drawn as to the number of persons
Involved in the crime; how many of them were merely
passive witnesses; what arms and weapons they were              H
    1168       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2012] 2 S.C.R.

A carrying alongwith them. Number and nature of injuries
  is also relevant to be considered. "Common object" may
  also be developed at the time of incident. [Para 10) [1178-
  B.. E]            .

B       Ramachandran & Ors. v. State of Kera/a (2011) 9 SCC
    257; Chandra Bihari Gautam & Ors. v. State of Bihar AIR
    2002 SC 1836 and Ramesh v. State of Haryana AIR 2011
    SC 169 - relied on.

        6. The witnesses have deposed that not a single
C article was looted nor any attempt had been made to
  commit dacoity, rather it has been specifically stated that
  all the assailants/misc.reants declared that no one would
  be left alive and had been exhorting one another to
  eliminate all. All the assailants came together and
D participated in the crime in which '0' was killed, 'T' and
  'C' were injured. The assailants tried to break open the
  d9or of the house but could not succeed, thus they fired
  from the ventilator and that is why 'T' and 'C' got injured:
  After commission of the offence a large number of
E persons gathered at the place of occurrence. The
  assailants ran away. The offence was committed at mid-
  night. Therefore, after reading the entire evidence
  collectively inference can safely be drawn that the
  assailants had an object to commit murder of persons on
F the victims' side and they participated in the crime. The
  graveness of charges against the appellants that they in
  concert with other accused to achieve a common object
  entered into the hou$e of the complainant stood proved.
  [Paras 12, 13) [1179~G-H; t180-A-C]         .            .
                 '   '            '



G                         Case Law Reference:
                                               on
                                      '   '



        2011 (1) SCR 48 ·             relied               Para 7
        2010 (14) SCR 133             relied on            Para 7 ·

H       (2011) 9 ·sec 251             relied on            Para 10 ·




        ·, \
           ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                  1169


    AIR 2002 SC 1836             relied on            Para 11      A
    AIR 2011 SC 169              relied on            Para 11
    CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
No. 1840 of 2008.
                                                                   B
     From the Judgment & Order dated 23.08.2007 of the High
Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No. 1096
of 1982.

     S.B. Upadhyay, Shekhar Prit Jha, Pawan Kishore Singh,
Vikrant Bhardwaj for the Appellants.                               C

    D.K. Goswami, Anuvrat Sharma Alka Sinha for the
Respondent.

    The Judgment of the Court was delivered by                     D
     DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J. 1. This appeal has been
preferred against the judgment and order dated 23.8.2007
passed by the High Court of Allahabad in Criminal Appeal No.
1096 of 1982, qua the appellants by which the judgment and
order of the Trial Court dated 16.4.1982 in Sessions Trial No.     E
277 of 1980, of their conviction under Section 302/149; 307
read with Section 149 and Section 452 of Indian Penal Code,
1860 (hereinafter called 'IPC') has been upheld and sentence-
awarded by the Trial Court for life imprisonment for the offence
under Section 302/149; seven years for the offence under           F
Section 307/149; and three years' rigorous imprisonment under
Section 452 IPC has been maintained.

    2. Facts and circumstances giving rise to.this appeal are
as under:                          -
                                                                   G
     A. An FIR was file<;I on 23.3.1980 at 2.50 AM. with the
Police Station Harduwaganj, DistrictAligarh that on 22-23/3/
1980 at about 12 O'clock, Jalsur (PW.2)- complainant and his
UnCle Onkar Singh (deceased) were sleeping on the roof of
                                                                   H'
     1170    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012] 2 S.C.R.


 A their house in their village Kidhara. The appellants came to the
   house of complainant alongwith other accused persons. One
   Jagdish who was having a shop in the outer room of the
   complainant's house, woke up after hearing the sound of the
   movement of appellants and accused persons and raised alarm
 B and took to his heels. Jalsur (PW.2) and his uncle Onkar Singh
   (deceased) also woke up. Onkar Singh (deceased) climbed
   down from the roof towards Chabutara while Jalsur (PW.2)
   jumped in the adjoining house of his uncle Bahori and came
   out in the open and set fire to a "chappar" in front of his own
 c house. It was in the light of the fire made on account of burning
   of "Chappar", that Jalsur (PW.2) saw the accused Bira, Tara,
   Onkar, Rati Ram and some 7-8 unknown persons. The
   appellants were armed with country made pistols and other
   assailants were armed with lathi, bhala and other lethal
   weapons. A scuffle took place between the assailants and
 0
   Onkar Singh (deceased) and he received a gun shot injury on
    his chest and died. Some of the assailants climbed down into
   the house of the informant and tried to break open the doors
   of the rooms but on their failure to do so, they opened fire on
   the doors and some of them entered the rooms through
'E ventilators. The firing caused injuries to the informant's son
   Chandra Bose and daughter Tarwati. On seeing pressure
    mounting, the culprits pushed the deceased (Onkar) into the fire
    of the "Chappar'' Which had been set ablaze by the informant.

 F      B. On the basis of the said FIR, investigation commenced
   and 1.0. N.P. Singh (PW.6) came at the place of occurrence
   and collected seven empty shells of 12 bore cartridges alleged
   to have been fired by the miscreants. He also recorded the
   stateme·nt of witnesses. Site plan was prepared. Blood stained
 G earth and sample of ash of burnt Chappar was collected. The
   injured persons were sent for medical examination and
   treatment. Dead body of Onkar Singh was sent for post-mortem.
   The Investigating Officer arrested Mohd. Shafi, Ahmad Syeed
   and Suresh on 25.3.1980 and other accused persons
 H subsequently. The Test Identification parade of four accused,
           ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                    1171
              [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.]

namely, Omveer, Suresh, Ahmad Sayeed, and Mohd. Shafi               A
was conducted and the accused were identified by the
witnesses, namely, Roshan Singh, Shishu Pal, Hukam Singh
and Jalsur on 17.5.1980. The Investigating Officer filed
chargesheet dated 14.1.1981 against 7 accused persons,
namely, Bira, Tara, Onkar, Mohd. Shafi, Omveer, Ahmad               B
Sayeed and Suresh.

     C. The Trial Court framed the charges on 14.1.1981
against all the 7 accused persons under Sections 147, 302/
149, 307/149 and 452 IPC. So far as the present appellants
and accused Bira are concerned, an additional charge was            C
framed against them under Section 148 IPC. To prove the case,
prosecution examined large number of witnesses including
Jalsur (PW.2), Shishu Pal (PW.3) and Bani Singh (PW.4) as
eye-witnesses of the occurrence.
                                                                    D
      D. The accused persons, namely, Bira, Tara, Onkar and
Omveer when examined under Section 313 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure (hereinafter called Cr.P.C.) took the plea
that they had falsely been implicated because of their previous
enmity as 5-6 years prior to the incident, an attempt was made      E'
on the life of Shishupal, uncle of the complainant Jalsur (PW.2)
and in that case accused Tara, his brother Mahabir and father
Munshi faced trial and stood convicted under Section 307 JPC
and they served the sentence. It was further submitted that Tara,
Bira and Onkar were closely related to each other. In respect       F
of another incident, Jalsur (PW.2) had filed a complaint against
Tara and Mahabir under Section 395 IPC but the said case
ended in acquittal. The other accused persons took the defence
that they had enmity with the police and had falsely been
implicated in the case.
                                                                    G
      E. After appreciating the evidence on record and
considering all other facts and circumstances of the case, the
Trial Court vide judgment and order dated 16.4.1982 convicted
all the 7 accused persons and awarded the sentence as
mentioned hereinabove in S.T. Case No.277 of 1980.                  H
    1172    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A Aggrieved, all the 7 convicts preferred Criminal Appeal No.1096
  of 1982 before the High Court of Allahabad.

       F. During the pendency of the said appeal, Omveer,
  Ahmad Sayeed and Suresh died and thus, their appeal stood
  abated. At the time of hearing the appeal, it stood established
8
  that Bira was a child on the date of occurrence and therefore,
  his conviction was maintained but sentence was set aside
  giving benefit under the provisions of Section 2(4) of the U.P.
  Children Act, 1951. The appeal of remaining three convicts,
  namely, Tara, Onkar and Mohd. Shafi stood dismissed vide
C impugned judgment. Mohd. Shafi did not prefer any appeal.

       '1 Hence, this appeal only by two convicts.

          3. Shri S.B. Upadhyay, learned Senior counsel appearing
0   for the appellants has submitted that injured witnesses, namely,
    Tarawati and Chandra Bose have not been examined. Similarly,
    independent eye-witnesses, namely, Roshan Singh and Hukum
    Singh whose presence at the scene of occurrence had been
    witnessed by Jalsur (PW.2) himself were not examined. Jagdish
E   Who had raised hue and cry immediately after hearing the
    sound of coming of the accused persons on the spot has also
    not been examined. Only close relatives of Onkar Singh
    (deceased) have been examined. Therefore, the prosecution
    withheld the material evidence in its possession. In the facts
    and circumstances of the case, the provisions of Section 149
F   IPC were not attracted. The prosecution miserably failed to
    prove that there was unlawful assembly constituted for the
    purpose of executing a common object. The prosecution case
    itself had been that the prime object was to commit dacoity and
    not murder of Onkar Singh (deceased). In the deposition, Jalsur
G   (PW.2) had made a statementin the court that Rati Ram was ·
    involved in the killing of Onkar Singh (deceased) and his name
    also finds place in the FIR lodged by Jalsur (PW.2) but no
    chargesheet has been filed against him. ·In view of the above,
    the appeal deserves to be allowed.
           ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                   1173
              [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.]

      4. Per contra, Shri D.K. Goswami, learned counsel             A
appearing for the State has vehemently opposed the appeal
contending that the FIR had promptly been lodged within a
period of 3 hours after mid-night though the police station was
at a distance of 3 miles from the place of occurrerice. The
appellants had been named in the FIR. Roles attributed to each      B
of them had been explained. Motive had also been mentioned.
Injuries suffered by Tarawati and Chandra Bose had also been
given. Law does not proscribe reliance upon the evidence of
closely related witnesses. However, it requires that evidence
of such witnesses must be appreciated with care and caution.        c
Once the evidence is found reliable/trustworthy, it cannot be
discarded merely on the ground that the witness has been
closely related to the victim. The injuries found on the person
of the deceased as well as on Tarawati, Chandra Bose and
Mohd. Shafi corroborate the case of the prosecution and in
                                                                    0
such a fact-situation, the provisions of Section 149 IPC have
rightly been applied. The issue of non-examination of the injured
witnesses, namely, Tarawati and Chandra Bose and of eye-
witnesses, namely, Roshan Singh, Hukum Singh and Jagdish
has not been put to the Investigating Officer in cross-
examination who could have furnished the explanation for their      E
non-examination. Thus, the issue cannot be raised first time in
appeal before this Court. The appeal lacks merit and is liable
to be dismissed.

     5. We have considered the rival submissions made by            F
learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

     6. Before we enter into the merits of the case, it may be
relevant to refer to the injuries caused to the victims.

     (a) The post mortem examination of the dead body of            G
Onkar Singh, son of Sher Singh, was conducted by Dr.
Pradeep Kumar (P.W.7) on 23.3.1980 at about 5.15 a.m. and
he found following ante mortem injuries on his person:-

     1. Gun shot wound of entry of left nipple 1" x 1" x chest      H
    1174      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A      cavity deep, margins inverted, blackening and tattooing
       present around the wound part of lung coming out of the
      ·wound.

          2. Abrasion 3" x I» on the top of left shoulder.
B     · 3. Abrasion 1" x Yi on the right elbow.

      1   4. Abrasion 2" x I» on the right iliac spine region.

          5. Abrasion 1 Yi "x Yi" on left iliac spine region.

C         6. Abrasion 3 "x 1" on upper part of right leg.

          · 7. Abrasion Y4 "x Y4" on middle part of left leg.

          8. Abrasion 2" x I» on the right side of back.
D         9. Superficial burn on left side of chest and abdomen.

        On the internal examination, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, ribs on
      ,the left side were found fractured. In the right lung 800 ml
        of dark blood and 12 pellets were recovered. Left lung was
E       lacerated and 8 pieces of wadding were recovered. In
        large intestine gases and faecal matters were found. In the
        opinion of the doctor, death had occurred due to shock and
      ··haemorrhage due to ante mortem injuries and duration of
        death was% day to one day.
F         (b) Dr. D.P. Singh (P.W.1) of PHC Harduwaganj had
          examined the injuries of Tarwati, daughter of Jalsur (PW.2)
          on 23.3.1980 at 1.15 p.m. and following injuries were found
          by him:-

G         1. Lacerated circular pellet wound 1/8" x 1/8"' x muscle
          deep on the anterior aspect of scalp exactly in the midline
          of head.
          2. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
          the left side of scalp away from the mid line and 2 %" above
H
      UNKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                    1175
            [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.]

the left eye brow.                                             A

3. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
the right of scalp, 1" behind the injury No.3.

The injuries, in the opinion of the doctor, were simple and
were caused by fire arm and it was half day old.               B

(c) Chandra Bose, son of Jalsur (PW.2) was examined by
Dr. D.P. Singh (PW.1) on 23.3.1980 at 1.20 p.m. and the
following injuries were found by him:-
                                                               C
1. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
the right side of face, 1 %" in front of the lower angle of
right mandible.

2. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
the right side of scalp. 4 %" above the base of right ear      D
and 1 %" away from mid line.

3. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
the left side of scalp. %" away from mid line and 2 % «
above the left eye brow.                                       E

4. Lacerated circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on
the left side of scalp 1" behind the injury no.3.

     All the injuries were simple in nature and were
caused by fire arm and their duration was about half a day     F
old.

(d) Dr. D.P. Singh (PW.1) examined the injuries of Mohd.
Shafi on 26.3.1980 at 11.15 a.m. and the following injuries
were found on his person:-
                                                               G
1. Circular wound 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on the front
aspect of right forearm 4" below the level of right elbow
joint.

2. Multiple circular wound 1"/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep on the   H
    1176    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A       front and lateral aspect of right upper arm 12 in numbers
        in an area 8" x 5" between the shoulder and elbow joint.

         3. Three circular wounds 1/8" x 1/8" x muscle deep each
         in an area of 3 % x 2" on the right shoulder joint.
B        4. Multiple circular wounds 1 /8" x 1/8" x muscle deep, 5
         in numbers, extending in a linear fashion starting from 3
         W' above the right nipple to the lower part of 9th rib at a
         place 6 %" away from mid line of back.

c        In.the opinion of the doctor, all the injuries were simple and
    were caused by fire arm. Duration of these injures was found
    to be 3 % days which is corresponding to the date of incident.

         7. The prosecution has examined 3 eye-witnesses.
    According to Jalsur (PW.2), the victims' side had earlier filed
0   criminal cases against some of the accused persons. In one
    case, they had been convicted and in another case they had
    been acquitted. In so far as this incident is concerned, Jalsur
    (PW.2) has fully supported the case of the prosecution. This
    witness deposed that accused Bira was having a gun and the
E   present appellants were having country made pistols and the
    other accused were armed with lathi and ballom etc. In order
    to save himself from the assailants, Jalsur (PW.2) jumped in
    the house of his uncle and Onkar Singh climbed down from the
    roof. The accused had a scuffle with Onkar Singh who suffered
F   a gun shot injury. The accused also tried to break the door of
    the room of Onkar Singh and when the door was not broken,
    they fired the shot at the door and bullets from the ventilation
    of the home due to which Chandra Bose and Tarawati, son and
    daughter of Jalsur (PW.2) suffered fire injuries. In this incident,
G   Mohd. Shafi also got injured. His evidence is totally
    corroborated by Shishu Pal (PW.3) and Bani Singh (PW.4).
       It is a settled legal proposition that evidence of closely
  related witnesses is required to be carefully scrutinised and
H appreciated before resting of conclusion the convict/accused
           ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                    1177
              [DR. S.S. CHAUHAN, J.]

in a given case. In case, the evidence has a ring of truth, is       A
cogent, credible and trustworthy it can be relied upon. (Vide:
Himanshu v. State (NCT of Delhi), (2011) 2 SCC 36; and
Ranjit Singh & Ors. v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2011) 4
sec   336).
                                                                     8
    There is nothing on record to show that at the time of cross-
examination of the Investigating Officer (PW.6), any of the
accused had put him a question as to why the other witnesses
have not been examined.

     8. Injuries reports so referred to hereinabove stood proved     C
by Dr. D.P. Singh (PW.1) and Dr. Pradeep Kumar (PW.7) in
the court and they corroborate the prosecution version. In spite
of the fact that the accused Mohd. Shafi got injured but no
grievance has ever been raised by him in this regard. The Trial
Court has rightly taken note of it and reached the correct           D
conclusion that it supports the case of the prosecution and
establish the presence of Mohd. Shafi at the place of
occurrence and he participated in the crime. Mohd. Shafi
himself could not explain as under what circumstances such
injuries have been caused to him.                                    E

      9. The courts below have reached the correct conclusion
that it is highly improbable that the witnesses would screen and
spare the real assailants and falsely enroped the appellants and
others only because of old enmity. Had it been so, there could
have been no reason to involve at least four other accused           F
persons in the crime, particularly, Mohd. Shafi, Suresh, Ahmad
Sayeed and Omveer.

       Admittedly, he lodged the FIR most promptly within a
  period of 3 hours of the incident at 2.50 A.M. though the police   G
  station was at a distance of 3 miles from the place of
. occurrence. So far as the present appellants are concerned,
  they have specifically been named.

      The other co-accused who were not the residents of the         H
    1178     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A   village where the offence has been committed, had been duly
    identified in Test Identification Parade as well as in court by all
    the three eye-witnesses. ·

        10. We do not find any force in the submission made by
  Shri Llpadhyay, learned Senior counsel that in the facts and
8
  circumstances of the case provisions of Section 149 IPC were
  not attracted, for the reason, that this court has been very
  cautious in the catena of judgments that where general
  allegations are made against a large number of persons the
  court would categorically scrutinise the evidence and hesitate
C to convict the large number of persons if the evidence available
  on record is vague. It is obligatory on the part of the court to
  examine that if the offence committed is not in direct
  prosecution of the common object, it may yet fall under second
  part of Section 149 IPC, which states that if the offence was
D such as the members knew was likely to be committed. Further
  inference has to be drawn as to the number of persons involved
  in the crime; how many of them were merely passive witnesses;
  what arms and weapons they were carrying alongwith them.
  Number and nature of injuries is also relevant to be considered.
E "Common obje~t'' may also be developed at the time of
  incident.

       (See : Ramachandran & Ors. v. State o; Kera/a (2011) 9
    sec 257).
F        11. In Chandra Bihari Gautam & Ors. v. State of Bihar,
    AIR 2002_SC 1836, this Court while dealing with a similar case
    held as under:

        "Section 149 has two parts. First part deals with the
G       commission of an offence by a member of unlawful
        assembly in prosecution of the common object of that
        assembly and the second part deals with the liability of the
        members of the unlawful assembly who knew that an
        offence was likely to be committed in prosecution of the
H       object for w~1ich they had assembled. Even if the common
           ONKAR & ANR. v. STATE OF U.P.                  1179
              [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, J.]

     object of the unlawful assembly is stated to be"'A,_
     apprehending Nawlesh Singh only, the fact that the
     accused persons had attacked the house of the
     complainant at the dead of the night and were armed with
     deadly weapons including the guns, and used petrol bombs
     proves beyond doubt that they knew that in prosecution of B
     the alleged initial common object murders were likely·, to
     be committed. The knowledge of the consequential.iction
     in furtherance of the initial common object is sufficient to
     attract the applicability of Section 149 for holding the
     members of the unlawful assembly guilty for 'the c
     commission of the offence by any member of such
     assembly. In this case the appellants, along with pthers,
     have been proved to have formed unlawful assembly, the '     y

     common object of which was to commit murder and arson ·· , · ·
     and in prosecution of the said common object they. raided '
                                                                     0
     the house of the informant armed with guns afl~Committed' · -
    .offence. The Courts below have, therefore, rightly held ifiat -
     the accused persons formed an unlawful assembly, ttle
     common object of which was to commit murder of.the
     informant and his family members and in prosecution of
     the said common object six persons were killed. The . ~;·
                                                                  1

     appellants were also proved to have hired the services of
     some extremists for the purposes of eliminating the family
     of the complainant."

    (See also: Ramesh v. State of Haryana, AIR 2011 SC                F
    169)
     12. The witnesses have deposed that not a single article
was looted nor any attempt had been made to commitdacoity,
rather it has been specifically stated that all the assailants/
miscreants declared that no one would be left alive and had G
been exhorting one another to eliminate all. All the assailants
came together and participated in the crime in which Onkar
Singh was killed, Tarawati and Chandra Bose were injured. The
assailants tried to break open the door of the house but could
                                                                H



                                                                          (
    1180     SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2012] 2 S.C.R.


A not succeed, thus they fired from the ventilator and that is why
  Tarawati and Chandra Bose got injured. After commission of
  the offence a large number of persons gathered at the place
  of occurrence. The assailants ran away. The offence was
  committed at mid-night. Therefore, after reading the entire
8 evidence collectively inference can safely be drawn that the
  assailants had an object to commit murder of persons on the
  victims' side and they participated in the crime.

        13. Thus, the graveness of charges against the appellants
  that they in concert with other accused to achieve a common
C object entered into the house of the complainant stood proved.

         14. In view of the above, we do not find any force in the
    appeal. Facts and circumstances of the case do not warrant
    any interference in the matter. The appeal lacks merit and is,
o   accordingly, dismissed.
    B.B.B.                                    Appeal dismissed.




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