In order to implicate a person of an offence as abettor it has to be proved the actus reus he has abetted with the necessary mens rea. To establish the charge of abetement there must be evidence that an act was abetted and that it was abetted by the person charged with. The act abetted must, moreover, amount to a crime, and in order to connect the abettor with the crime, it is not sufficient to prove that he had taken part in those steps of the transaction which are innocent, but it must also be proved that he had deliberately taken part in those steps of the transaction which constituted an offence. Section 109 may be attracted even if the abettor is not present when the offence abetted is committed, provided that he has instigated the commission of the offence or has engaged with one or more other persons in a conspiracy to commit an offence and pursuant to that conspiracy some act or illegal omission takes place or has intentionally aided the commission of an offence by illegal omission.... (Surendra Kumar Sinha, J). .....State =VS= Dafader Marfoth Ali Shah & ors, (Criminal), 2018 (1) [4 LM (AD) 430] ....View Full Judgment

Abetment of the offence– We are satisfied that accused respondent Amjad Ali @ Md. Hossain @ Babu has been rightly found guilty by the special tribunal as well as by the learned Sessions Judge for abetment of the offence. However, since he did not directly participate either in the explosion of bomb or in the murder, the learned Sessions Judge is not justified in awarding him the death sentences in both the charges. As per our sentencing rules which provide that the abettor should not be equated with the principal offender so far as regards awarding the sentence although there is no legal bar to award the same sentence. We convert the conviction of the accused respondent Mohammad Hossain to one under sections 3/6 of the Explosive substances Act read with section 25D of the Special Powers Act and sentence him to imprisonment for life. We also award him sentence of imprisonment for life under sections 302/109 of the Penal Code. It should be borne in mind that imprisonment for life within the meaning of section 57 of the Penal Code means imprisonment for the whole of the remaining period of the convicted person's natural life. ...State =VS= Amjad Ali @ Md Hossain @ Babu, (Criminal), 2021(1) [10 LM (AD) 408] ....View Full Judgment