All members of a rioting mob equally guilty: Gujarat High Court

April 19, 2016

Ahmedabad, Apr 19: A bench belonging to the Gujarat High Court ruled that in cases involving charges of rioting, all the members of a mob should be held guilty for the offences committed by any one of them.

The High Court announced its decision while hearing a 13-year-old murder case, in which a mob was accused of intercepting commuters, committing dacoity and even killing a pillion rider Mukesh Panchal. Six of the 12 accused were held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court, but they challenged the decision in the High Court.

Upholding the conviction, a bench of Justice K S Jhaveri and Justice G B Shah said, "Riots, resulting in serious injuries or even death, are of frequent occurrence in this state and cases relating to such riots require careful handling."

"A large number of persons are involved and evidence is often entirely of partisan character. There is, moreover, great danger of innocent persons being implicated along with the guilty, owing to the tendency of parties to try to implicate falsely as many of their enemies as they can," they added.

The bench further observed that the "law is very clear that if an offence is committed by any member of an unlawful assembly in furtherance of the common object of that assembly, every member of that unlawful assembly is guilty of that offence".

"Specific overt act of each member needs not be proved when the accused are proved to be members of that assembly," the bench said.

Keeping in view the above observations, the High Court rejected the defence argument on the grounds that their intention was "to spread havoc in the city".

Comments

As seen in the picture all belongs to low and labor class or unemployed people, these people have only intension to loot the public property burglary and easy way to take money for their booze, Govt. must look in how to minimize the unemployment and keep them busy automatically problems will solve

Good judgement...but hard to implement...politicians will stand against it...they need votes at the end of the day...they will be released even if they get caught...

MoNa's hometown id burning, and MoNa is busy begging votes in Bengal...

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QR-code tips power Mangaluru's major drug bust: 25 arrested in 2 weeks

News Network

December 16,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 16: The Mangaluru City police have significantly escalated their campaign against drug trafficking, arresting 25 individuals and booking 12 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between November 30 and December 13. The crackdown resulted in the seizure of a substantial quantity of illicit substances, including 685.6 grams of MDMA and 1.5 kg of ganja.

The success of this recent drive has been significantly boosted by the city’s innovative, QR code-based anonymous reporting system.

"The anonymous reporting system has received an encouraging response. Several recent arrests were made based on inputs received through this system, helping police tighten the noose around drug peddlers," said the City Police Commissioner.

The latest arrests contribute to a robust year-to-date record, underscoring the police's relentless commitment to combating the drug menace.

Up to December 14 this year, the police have registered a total of 107 cases of drug peddling, leading to the arrest of 219 peddlers. Furthermore, they have booked 562 cases of drug consumption, resulting in the arrest of 671 individuals.

The scale of the seizure for the year reflects the magnitude of the problem being tackled: police have seized 320.6 kg of ganja worth ₹88.7 lakh and 1.4 kg of MDMA valued at ₹1.2 crore. Other significant seizures include hydro-weed ganja worth ₹94.7 lakh and cocaine worth ₹1.9 lakh, among others.

The Commissioner emphasized a policy of rigorous enforcement: "We ensure that peddlers are caught red-handed so that they cannot later dispute the case or claim innocence."

To counter the rising trend of substance abuse among youth, the Mangaluru City police have rolled out uniform guidelines for random drug testing across educational institutions.

As part of the drive, tests were conducted in approximately 100 institutions, screening an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 students in the first phase. 20 students tested positive for drug consumption during the initial screening.

Students who tested positive have been provided counselling and are scheduled for re-testing in the second quarter. The testing will also be expanded to students not covered in the first phase. In a move to ensure strict implementation, police personnel were deployed in mufti in some institutions. Reiterating a zero-tolerance stance, the Commissioner confirmed that random testing will continue, and colleges have also been instructed to conduct drug tests at the time of admission to deter substance abuse from an early stage.

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