{"id":5874,"date":"2025-06-30T23:26:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T17:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/?p=5874"},"modified":"2025-06-30T23:31:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:01:19","slug":"barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor 1925 (Case Summary)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5874\" class=\"elementor elementor-5874\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-32eb9dde elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no wpr-equal-height-no\" data-id=\"32eb9dde\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-47cd98e9\" data-id=\"47cd98e9\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-2d3a7f33 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no wpr-equal-height-no\" data-id=\"2d3a7f33\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-79889688\" data-id=\"79889688\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56e154e8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"56e154e8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor 1925 (Case Summary)<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fa0c5d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1fa0c5d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"864\" src=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-1536x864.png\" class=\"attachment-1536x1536 size-1536x1536 wp-image-5876\" alt=\"Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fawyerz-54.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46e2e12c elementor-grid-0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-wpr-sharing-buttons\" data-id=\"46e2e12c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"wpr-sharing-buttons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpr-sharing-buttons elementor-grid wpr-sharing-official wpr-sharing-label-off wpr-sharing-label-tr\"><div class=\"elementor-grid-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/\" class=\"wpr-sharing-icon wpr-sharing-facebook-f\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\"><\/i><\/a><\/div><div class=\"elementor-grid-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/&title=Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor 1925 (Case Summary)&summary=This Privy Council case dealt with a situation where multiple individuals were involved in a joint criminal act. The key issue before the court was the interpretation of Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code,&source=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/\" class=\"wpr-sharing-icon wpr-sharing-linkedin-in\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\"><\/i><\/a><\/div><div class=\"elementor-grid-item\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor 1925 (Case Summary)&body=https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/\" class=\"wpr-sharing-icon wpr-sharing-envelope\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fas fa-envelope\"><\/i><\/a><\/div><div class=\"elementor-grid-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?text=*Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor 1925 (Case Summary)*%0ahttps:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/\" class=\"wpr-sharing-icon wpr-sharing-whatsapp\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-whatsapp\"><\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-377933be elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"377933be\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Privy Council case dealt with a situation where multiple individuals were involved in a joint criminal act. The key issue before the court was the interpretation of Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, particularly whether a person who did not personally fire the fatal shot could still be held equally liable for murder committed in furtherance of a common intention.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/#Facts_of_Barendra_Kumar_Ghose_v_King_Emperor\" >Facts of Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/#Issues_framed\" >Issues framed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/#Subordinate_Court_Judgment\" >Subordinate Court Judgment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/bharatiya-nyaya-sahita\/barendra-kumar-ghose-v-king-emperor-1925-case-summary\/#Judgment_of_Barendra_Kumar_Ghose_v_King_Emperor\" >Judgment of Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Facts_of_Barendra_Kumar_Ghose_v_King_Emperor\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Facts of Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In August 1923, Barendra Kumar Ghose, along with three accomplices, planned to rob a post office.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While one accomplice stood guard outside, the other three, including Ghose, entered the post office armed with firearms and demanded money from the postmaster.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upon resistance from the postmaster, the intruders fired their weapons, resulting in the postmaster&#8217;s death.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As they attempted to flee, Ghose fired his pistol multiple times. He was subsequently apprehended and charged with murder under Section 302, read with Section 34 of the IPC.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Issues_framed\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Issues framed<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether Barendra Kumar Ghose could be held liable for murder under Section 302, read with Section 34 of the IPC, despite not firing the fatal shot?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ol><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Subordinate_Court_Judgment\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Subordinate Court Judgment<\/b><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Trial Court convicted Ghose of murder under Section 302, read with Section 34, holding that the act was committed in furtherance of a common intention. The Calcutta High Court upheld the conviction, emphasizing that Section 34 establishes a principle of joint liability for acts done in furtherance of a shared intention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Judgment_of_Barendra_Kumar_Ghose_v_King_Emperor\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\"><b>Judgment of Barendra Kumar Ghose v. King Emperor<\/b><\/span><b><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court applied Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which deals with acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Privy Council interpreted Section 34 as not creating a separate offense but as a rule of evidence establishing joint liability. It held that when a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention, each person is liable for the act as if it were done by him alone. The Court emphasized that the presence of a common intention is sufficient to hold all participants equally liable, regardless of their individual roles in the execution of the act.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Privy Council dismissed Ghose&#8217;s appeal, affirming the conviction under Section 302, read with Section 34. It concluded that Ghose&#8217;s participation in the robbery, coupled with the shared intention to commit the crime, rendered him equally responsible for the murder of the postmaster, even though he did not fire the fatal shot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-591c6ad4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default wpr-particle-no wpr-jarallax-no wpr-parallax-no wpr-sticky-section-no wpr-equal-height-no\" data-id=\"591c6ad4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-34e673d4\" data-id=\"34e673d4\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Privy Council case dealt with a situation where multiple individuals were involved in a joint criminal act. The key issue before the court was the interpretation of Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[174,139,172,173],"class_list":["post-5874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bharatiya-nyaya-sahita","tag-common-intention","tag-joint-liability","tag-privy-council-case","tag-section-34-of-the-indian-penal-code"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5874"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5883,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874\/revisions\/5883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fawyerz.in\/judgments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}