In Brief
In this criminal appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Balaram under Section 302 IPC read with Section 34 IPC for the murder of Ram Autar in 1984. Though eyewitnesses disagreed on who fired the fatal shot, the Court held that Section 34 IPC (common intention) could sustain Balaram's conviction if he was armed, present at the scene, and acted in concert with the principal assailant. The conviction was not undermined by contradictions between the FIR and court statements, as the core facts—that multiple accused shared a common intention to kill—were established by consistent eyewitness evidence and corroborated by medical evidence.
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