Presence in unlawful assembly is not punishable if the same is not actuated by the common object.
April 02, 2019 (Delhi): A three judges bench of Hon’ble Supreme Court has recently held that mere presence in an unlawful assembly cannot render a person liable unless there was a common object, being one of those set out in Section 141 I.P.C. and she was actuated by that common object.
Justice Ramana speaking for the three judges bench has pronounced the judgment titled as Amrika Bai vs State of Chhattisgarh on 29.03.2019.
The case of the prosecution was noted in paragraph-2 of the judgment as “on the morning of 12.08.1989, the deceased, Kapil, was taking his cattle for grazing, at which time his cattle jumped on the door of the appellant’s house, which led to the appellant abusing the deceased. Thereafter, on his way back, the deceased questioned the appellant as to why she abused him earlier in the morning. At this, the appellant, on the pretext of touching the feet of the deceased, caught hold of him. Then, the other accused, armed with deadly weapons, came to the spot and beat the deceased to death. Pursuant to this an FIR was registered against the accused on 12.08.1989 and chargesheet was filed”.
The police filed the case against 14 persons, the appellant Amrika Bai, a convict, approached the SC in this case.
The Court made pertinent observation in respect of the appellant as “In the facts of the present case, the appellant who was unarmed is implicated in the incident by virtue of the testimonies of the aforementioned witnesses stating her role in allegedly catching hold of the deceased to facilitate his murder. On a close scrutiny of the testimonies of the aforesaid witnesses, the role of the appellant in the incident is extremely doubtful”.
Then the Court relied upon Dani Singh v. State of Bihar, (2004) 13 SCC 203 and observed as “The law is wellsettled on the aspect that mere presence in an unlawful assembly cannot render a person liable unless there was a common object, being one of those set out in Section 141 I.P.C. and she was actuated by that common object”.
The Supreme Court ultimately acquitted the appellant Amrika Bai.
Read the judgment here:
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