The court was hearing a case related to a communal riot in Gujarat in 2003. (File Photo)
The Gujarat High Court has ruled that every member of a rioting mob is guilty of the offence committed by some of its constituents, while maintaining that cases related to communal riots require "very careful handling".
The ruling came in an order dated February 11 which was uploaded recently on the High Court's website, while reducing life sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for seven convicts in a communal riot case of 2003.
"Law is abundantly 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," the ruling by the two judges had said.
"Specific overt act of each member of unlawful assembly need not be proved when the accused are proved to be members of that assembly," the decision said.
The court passed the order after hearing seven persons who had in 2006 challenged the order of a lower court which had sentenced them to life imprisonment in murder, dacoity and rioting case.
On November 7, 2003, a mob of around 1,500 people had gathered at Shah Alam area of the city where they murdered one Mukesh Panchal whose body was recovered from Chandola lake of the city. They also assaulted and looted other passers-by.
The lower court had convicted seven persons to life sentence. The March 17, 2006 judgement was then challenged in High Court.