Supreme Court Emphasizes Common Object in Unlawful Assembly and vicarious liability.

The Supreme Court of India while deals with a criminal appeal (Criminal Appeal No. 1348 of 2014, in the case between Nitya Nand v State of UP & Anr) where the appellant, Nitya Nand, challenges his conviction and life sentence under Sections 148 and 302/149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the murder of Satya Narain.

The key legal issue is Nitya Nand's alleged role in an unlawful assembly and his vicarious liability for the murder.

Background: The case revolves around a property dispute within a family. Shree Dev, Satya Narain (the deceased), and Laxmi Narain were brothers. When Laxmi Narain, who had no children, willed his property to the sons of Satya Narain, it caused animosity with Shree Dev and his sons, including Nitya Nand. This led to several legal battles between them.

The prosecution alleged that on September 8, 1992, Satya Narain was fatally attacked by Shree Dev and his sons while he was bathing in the Ganga river.

The prosecution presented two eyewitnesses, Sarwan Kumar (PW-1), the son of the deceased, and Bhola Shankar (PW-2). Where, PW-1 testified that he, his father, and his uncle, Laxmi Narain, were at the river when Shree Dev and his four sons arrived, armed with various weapons. He claimed that Nitya Nand was carrying a country-made pistol. While Nitya Nand did not physically assault the deceased, the other accused did, and when PW-1 and others tried to intervene, Nitya Nand fired his pistol in the air to scare them away, allowing the attackers to escape PW-2 corroborated this account.

The Courts' Findings and Reasoning..

Trial Court and High Court: The trial court convicted all the accused based on the eyewitness accounts and medical evidence, which confirmed that the death was a homicide caused by sharp-edged weapons. The High Court upheld the convictions, finding the eyewitness testimony credible and corroborated by medical evidence.

The Supreme Court acknowledged certain weaknesses in the prosecution's case, such as the non-examination of the scribe who wrote the First Information Report and the non-recovery of the alleged firearm or cartridges. However, the Court emphasized the application of Section 149 IPC in cases of unlawful assembly, which holds each member vicariously liable for the crime committed in furtherance of the common object.

The Supreme Court while ultimately upheld Nitya Nand's conviction and sentence, found that Nitya Nand did not inflict the fatal blows, however, his presence at the scene as part of the unlawful assembly, coupled with his action of firing the pistol to facilitate the escape, constituted sufficient grounds for conviction under Sections 148 and 302/149 IPC. The Court affirmed that the common object of the assembly was to kill Satya Narain, and Nitya Nand's actions demonstrated his participation in furthering that object.

Coram: Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
Between: Nitya Nand v State of UP & Anr:
Case: Criminal Appeal No. 1348 of 2014.
Date of Decision: 04.09.2024