In Brief
Vijay Pal and two co-accused were convicted of murder under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC for assaulting a deceased with iron rods and lathis at a mine. The defence challenged the conviction on grounds of FIR delay, acquittal of three other alleged assailants, and allegedly unreliable weapon recoveries. The Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of Vijay Pal, who struck the fatal blows to the head with an iron rod, but downgraded the convictions of the other two appellants to culpable homicide under Section 304 Part II, finding they lacked murderous intention though they had knowledge of death's likelihood. Their sentence was reduced to time already served.
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