The Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and life sentences of several accused in the 1983 Bihar mass murder case, where five members of a family were brutally killed in Muzaffarpur district.
The Court dismissed appeals challenging the Patna High Court’s 2017 judgment, which had affirmed the trial court’s decision. The bench observed that the incident “shocks the judicial conscience” and left no scope for leniency.
On March 29, 1983, a mob of nearly 58 persons armed with weapons surrounded the house of Chandra Shekhar Choudhary, set it ablaze, and killed five family members, including Mahanth Indradeo Jyoti and Braj Bhushan Choudhary. Several others sustained grievous injuries.
The Supreme Court emphasized that once the common object of unlawful assembly is established, every member becomes vicariously liable for acts committed in furtherance of that object. Injured eyewitnesses and medical evidence were found credible and decisive in sustaining the convictions.
With this ruling, surviving convicts have been directed to surrender forthwith to serve the remainder of their sentences, bringing closure to the victims’ families after more than four decades of litigation.
