Bombay High Court (Sarang V. Kotwal & Sandesh D. Patil, JJ.; judgment per Kotwal J.), 18.02.2026 — Criminal Appeal Nos. 855 of 2024 (Rahul Yadav @ Kaindi Ramsahay Yadav, original Accused No.3), 206 of 2025 (Ashishkumar Nishad @ Lalla, original Accused No.2) and 687 of 2025 (Shivam Vedprakash Tiwari, original Accused No.1) DISMISSED; convictions by the Additional Sessions Judge, Thane in Sessions Case No.151 of 2018 under Sections 302, 307 and 201 read with Section 34 IPC for the knife-fatal assault on Tarsim Singh Sahota alias Bobby at Thane on 06/11/2017 (FIR C.R. No.I-317/2017, Vartak Nagar P.S.) affirmed. Held: (i) though angered by derogatory remarks made to PW-8, the deceased — who telephoned Accused No.1 and met him at the juice centre — intended only a confrontation, not murder (messages, Article-1); the Accused arrived prepared and armed, three knives in all (one seized at the spot, two recovered at Accused No.1's instance from a tree trunk), so the deceased was not the aggressor; (ii) three grave stab injuries on the chest/back and defence wounds on the arms ruled out death in a mutual scuffle with the deceased's own knife; (iii) recovery valid under Section 27 Evidence Act — authorship of concealment and exclusive knowledge; one knife bore the deceased's 'AB' group blood; (iv) ocular evidence of injured PW-1 and PW-2, matching the postmortem (PW-9) and clinical (PW-12) evidence, prevails over the unclear CCTV footage; hostile PW-3/PW-4 unreliable despite proved contrary portions (Exhibits-124, 125); (v) the Accused's arrest-panchanama marks were absolutely minor and Medical Officers noted no external injuries — no explanation burden arose, and Kumar Vs. State Represented by Inspector of Police (2018 7 SCC 536) distinguished as facts materially different; (vi) no grave and sudden provocation; the vital-part injuries and PW-1's abdominal wound were intentionally inflicted — Section 302, not Part II Section 304; (vii) common intention of all three established — Accused No.3 pulled PW-1 away enabling the assault. Blood on the Accused's clothes (seized about 11 days later) disregarded. Accused No.2, on bail, to surrender forthwith; bail bond cancelled; connected interim applications disposed.
