Haribhau @ Bhausaheb Dinkar Kharuse vs State of Maharashtra 2025 INSC 1266 - S.149 IPC- Unlawful Assembly - Specific Overt Act
Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 149 - It is not necessary for each member of the unlawful assembly to have committed a specific overt act. Once participation and sharing of the common object are proved, every member becomes vicariously liable for offences committed in prosecution of that object. [Context: SC while dismissing appeal, observed: appellants were not passive spectators but active participants and facilitators in a deliberate and planned assault. Their conduct and presence at the scene, in concert with the armed co-accused persons, establish their common intention and vicarious liability under Sections 302 and 307 read with Section 149 of the IPC] (Para 42-44)
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 378, 386- Interference with an order of acquittal must be exercised with great caution. However, such interference is justified where the findings of the Trial Court are manifestly perverse, unreasonable or contrary to the evidence on record -An appellate court possesses full power to review, reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded and to reach its own conclusions if the view taken by the trial court is not reasonably sustainable. (Para 29)
Case Info
- Case name: Haribhau @ Bhausaheb Dinkar Kharuse & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra.
- Neutral citation: 2025 INSC 1266.
- Coram: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi.
- Judgment date: October 29, 2025.
Caselaws and citations relied on
- Chandrappa v. State of Karnataka, (2007) 4 SCC 415 (para 42).
- Masalti v. State of U.P., AIR 1965 SC 202 (para 17).
- Lalji & Ors. v. State of U.P., (1989) 1 SCC 437.
- Murugesan v. State, (2012) 10 SCC 383 (paras 32–34).
- Siju Kurian v. State of Karnataka, (2023) 14 SCC 63 (para 21).
- Daya Kishan v. State of Haryana, (2010) 5 SCC 81.
- Naresh v. State of Haryana, (2023) 10 SCC 134.
- Shivaji Sahabrao Bobde v. State of Maharashtra, (1973) 2 SCC 793.
- Chellappa v. State, (2020) 5 SCC 160 (paras 10–11).
- M.C. Ali & Anr. v. State of Kerala, (2010) 4 SCC 573.
Statutes / laws referred
- Indian Penal Code, 1860: Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307; and alternative charges under Section 34.
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: Section 379.
- Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Act, 1970: Section 2(a).
#SupremeCourt reiterates that it is not necessary for each member of the unlawful assembly to have committed a specific overt act to attract Section 149 IPC against them. https://t.co/Ydmiu0imDx pic.twitter.com/iBWF2VN66F
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) October 29, 2025
