Jaspal Singh And Anr. vs State Of Haryana
- SCC(1976) 4 SCC 303
- AIRAIR 1977 SC 1821
Ratio decidendi
The rule this decision rests on
Where an accused is charged under Section 34 of the Penal Code as part of a group committing an offence, the prosecution must establish that the accused shared a common object with the other members of the group to commit that specific offence; the mere fact that an accused participated in a group assault, or participated insignificantly, does not by itself establish the requisite common object necessary to attract liability under Section 34, and the court must examine the totality of circumstances to determine whether such common object existed. An accused may be convicted of an offence under Section 325 of the Penal Code for injuries individually caused by that accused during an altercation, notwithstanding that the accused cannot be held liable under Section 34 for the death or injuries caused by other members of a group, where those individual injuries constitute voluntarily causing hurt.
Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.
Judgment
As delivered
1. Four persons were convicted by the learned Sessions Judge, Karnal to imprisonment for life under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code as also of lesser offences. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana having confirmed that judgment, the accused filed a petition for special leave in this Court. Leave has been granted only to the two appellants before us. The petition of the other two accused was rejected by this Court.
2. The incident out of which the prosecution arises took place on the evening of August 8, 1969. The cattle belonging to the accused strayed into the deceased's field and that sparked off a dispute during the course of which Balbir Singh received fatal injuries while two others received grievous injuries.
3. Having heard counsel for the parties, it seems to us impossible to hold that the appellant shared the common object of the two other accused to commit the murder of Balbir Singh. Appellants Jaspal Singh caused one grievous injury to Fateh Singh and two simple injuries to Jaswant Singh. Appellant Hoshiar Singh caused an injury to Balbir Singh after he had fallen down and that WAS an injury on Balbir Singh's finger. Hoshiar Singh also caused two simple injuries to Jaswant Singh. Consdering. totality of circumstances it is difficult to hold that there was any reconvert between the appellants and the other two accused to kill Balbir Singh. It is necessary to add that this conclusion does not rest on the mere circumstance that one of the appellants did not participate in and the other took a very insignificant part in the assault on Balbir Singh.
4. The conviction of the appellants under Section 325 Penal Code and Section 24, Cattle Trespass Act must, however stand. They can each and individually be held guilty for the injuries caused by them. We, therefore, convict each of them under Section 325 and uphold the sentence of two years' rigorous imprisonment imposed on them for that offence. Since they have already undergone a sentence of over 6 years, we direct that they shall be released forthwith.
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