In Brief
Two appellants, Iqbal and Virendra, were convicted alongside four others for murder and attempted murder as members of an armed unlawful assembly under Sections 148, 302/149, and 307/149 IPC. They challenged their conviction on the ground that, as mere friends of the primary aggressors (Genda Lal and Ganpat), they bore no personal responsibility and played no active role in the violence. The Supreme Court held that once an unlawful assembly with a common object is established, all members are vicariously liable for offences committed in pursuit of that object, irrespective of individual participation. The court found clinching evidence that all six accused arrived armed, and upon locating the victim Bhoop Singh, deliberately killed him in furtherance of their common intention to eliminate rivals. The appeal was dismissed.
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