Legal Provisions Involved: Sections 302, 354, 326, 324, 323, 504, 506, 149, 427 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Sections 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
Judgement By: Supreme Court of India
Judge/Bench: Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta
Facts
Namdev Sonavane was assaulted by six persons, including the respondents, due to a prior civil dispute over agricultural land. The complainant and her relatives, who intervened, were also assaulted and subjected to caste-based abuse. The High Court granted bail to the respondents, which was challenged before the Supreme Court.
Key Legal Provisions
Sections 302, 354, 326, 324, 323, 504, 506, 149 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
Issues raised
- Whether the High Court erred in granting bail based on extraneous considerations in a grave murder case involving SC/ST atrocities.
- Whether individual attribution of injuries is necessary when offences under unlawful assembly provisions are invoked.
Arguments of the case
The Appellant argued that the accused actively participated in a fatal assault as members of an unlawful assembly while the Respondent argued that time gap between incident and death creates doubt regarding nexus, moreover, no specific injuries were attributed to individual accused.
Judgement
The Court held that when unlawful assembly provisions are invoked, individual attribution of acts is unnecessary as each member is equally liable.
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