In Brief
On 19 January 1991, appellants armed with bombs and guns attacked a grocery shop in Bihar, killing Askari (nephew of the informant) and injuring Mohd. Asad, who died in hospital. The appellants were convicted by the trial court and High Court for murder under IPC Section 302 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly), and offences under the Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act. They challenged the conviction on grounds of witness credibility due to prior enmity, alleged material improvements in the informant's deposition, and claims of insufficient participation. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that interested witnesses are not automatically rejected if their evidence is corroborated and unshaken; members of an unlawful assembly are liable even if they did not directly inflict fatal injuries, if they actively facilitated the crime; and concurrent findings of the lower courts warranted no interference.
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