In Brief
In 1993, Suresh Babu was fatally attacked at a junction in Kerala during political clashes between CPI(M) and BJP supporters. The Sessions Court convicted some accused of murder; the High Court acquitted most and reduced some convictions to lesser offences (Section 324/149 IPC), finding no proof of a common object to murder. The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that eyewitness evidence (PW4) was wrongly excluded and that a common object to attack any rival party member passing through the junction could be inferred from circumstances. The Court convicted A3, A4, A14, A15 and A18 under Section 326/149 IPC (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by weapon, with common intent), sentencing them to 7 years' imprisonment. Mere presence in an unlawful assembly, without evidence of dissent or dissociation, renders an accused liable under Section 149.
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