In Brief
The appellant was convicted of murder under Sections 148 and 302/149 IPC as a member of an unlawful assembly that killed Satya Narain in 1992. Though the appellant did not directly inflict injuries—only firing a pistol in the air to help others escape—he was held liable under Section 149, which creates vicarious liability for all assembly members for crimes committed in pursuit of their common object. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that membership in the unlawful assembly, not direct participation, suffices for conviction under Section 149, and that the absence of recovered weapons does not defeat liability when vicarious liability applies.
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