Sibling Property Battle Turns Lethal: Verdict Upheld by the Supreme Court in Murder
Case Title: Haalesh @ Haleshi @ Kurubara Haleshi v. State Of Karnataka
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No.1954 Of 2012
Decided On: 02.02.2024
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Abhay S. Oka, And Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pankaj Mithal
Facts of the Case:
In a case involving a violent property dispute, a number of accused people got together, armed with lethal weapons, and broke into the deceased’s home, killing him and seriously injuring his family. Circumstantial evidence and the wounded wife’s and daughter’s eyewitness accounts linked the accused to the crime. All appeals were dismissed, and the appellants’ bail was revoked, as the courts affirmed the accused’s convictions based on the evidence that was provided.
Legal Provisions
The Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) Sections 149 and 302 are applied in this instance. Section 149 addresses culpability for offences committed by participants in an unlawful assembly. It declares that each member of the assembly is culpable of every offence committed by any of its members in furtherance of the assembly’s shared goal. According to Section 302, the crime of murder is defined as follows: the perpetrator faces a life sentence in prison or the death penalty, as well as a fine. These clauses were utilised in the prosecution’s case to convict the accused of taking part in a planned attack that killed the victim.
Issues
Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, which addresses the accountability of each member of an unlawful assembly for acts committed in furtherance of the assembly’s common objective, is one of the legal issues raised by this case. Interpreting the evidence, especially the visual evidence from eyewitnesses, to prove the accused’s guilt for their involvement in the illegal assembly and subsequent crimes, is another problem.
Courts analysis and decision
The convictions of accused A-4, A-5, A-6, and A-7 for their roles in an illegal assembly and the attack that followed, which killed Shivanna and hurt his family members, were affirmed by the court. The court declared all defendants guilty under Section 149 IPC even though A-1 to A-3 were personally involved in the attack because they took part in the illegal assembly with the shared goal of destroying Shivanna’s family. The prosecution’s case was supported by eyewitnesses PW-3 and PW-4, whose visual testimony was highlighted by the court. The court also dismissed the appeal, upholding the concurrent rulings of the subordinate courts and revokeing the appellants’ bail.
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Written by- Aastha Ganesh Tiwari