C H ASHOKAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is the 1st accused in Crime No:233/2012 of Chombala Police Station, Kozhikode District. The offences alleged against this petitioner and others are under sections 143, 147, 148, 115, 118, 120-B r/w 149 of IPC. The petitioner was arrested in connection with this case on 07.06.2012. Since then he has been in judicial custody.

(2.) THE learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, Sri.Gopalakrishna Kurup and the learned Advocate General have been heard.

(3.) THE learned Advocate General would submit that even though the object of the criminal conspiracy of 2009 could not be accomplished, still prosecution can be had for the offence under section 120-B. In order to constitute a criminal conspiracy there must be an agreement between two or more persons, the agreement must relate to doing or causing to be done either an illegal act or an act which is not illegal in itself but is done by illegal means. The existence of the conspiracy and its objective can be inferred from the surrounding circumstances and the conduct of the accused. The essence of a criminal conspiracy is complete when the unlawful combination is framed and that no overt act need be done in furtherance of the conspiracy, and that the object of the combination need not be accomplished, in order to constitute an indictable offence. In support of these submissions, the learned Advocate General relied upon the decisions of the apex Court in Noor Mohammad Mohd. Yusuf Momin V. State of Maharashtra 1970 (1) SCC 696, Yogesh Alias Sachin Jagdish Joshi V. State of Maharashtra (2008) 10 SCC 394 and Chamanlal and Others V. State of Punjab and another (2009) 11 SCC 721. But at the same time the incriminating circumstances must form a chain of events from which a conclusion about the guilt of the accused could be drawn.