SC Upholds Life Term Of Accused Persons For Murder Of 8 Family Members [Read Judgment]

They deserve no sympathy, the bench said

The Supreme Court has upheld the life imprisonment awarded to persons convicted for killing eight members of a family, including a one-and-half year-old infant.

As many as 20 accused were convicted by the trial court in the instant case. The high court acquitted four of them and modified the conviction of other accused from that under Section 302 read with Section 34 IPC to that of Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC.

On appeal, the bench comprising Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy, modifying the high court judgment, observed: “An overt act is not always an inflexible requirement of rule of law to establish culpability of a member of an unlawful assembly. The crucial question is whether the assembly entertained a common unlawful object and whether the accused was one of the members of such an assembly by intentionally joining it or by continuing in it being aware of the facts which rendered the assembly unlawful. Without unlawful object, no assembly becomes an unlawful assembly.”

The bench then said the accused did cause the death of eight persons in a barbaric and brutal manner wherein the merciless killing of a toddler is also involved. Upholding the life sentences awarded to the accused, it said they do not deserve any sympathy.

Read the Judgment here.