In Brief
In this criminal appeal arising from a Gram Panchayat election dispute in Maharashtra, 21 appellants were convicted of murder under Sections 302 and 149 IPC, following an attack in which one person died and several were injured. The Court held that while an unlawful assembly did form between rival political groups, the prosecution failed to prove a preconceived common object to commit murder. The absence of deadly weapons (only sticks), a single fatal head injury on the deceased with non-vital injuries on others, and lack of evidence of a conspiracy established that the assembly's object was at most to cause grievous hurt. The Court converted the convictions from Section 302 to Section 304-II IPC, maintaining the sentence of seven years rigorous imprisonment.
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