Criminal Acts Committed With a Common Intention and Under Intoxication: A Case Scenario Highlighting Their Legal Implications

The case under discussion highlights two important laws in the Penal Code (PC) of Sri Lanka namely, section 32, liability for actions/ offences carried out with common intention, and section 78 and 79, offences done under a state of intoxication. An infuriated first accused who had started a brawl with the victim over a fence and in the midst of the struggle had asked the second accused to bring him a ‘cement’ stone to hit the victim with. The second accused had promptly found and handed the first accused a heavy stone by which the victim was forcefully assaulted. The victim died as a result of blunt force trauma with cranio-cerebral injuries. The indictment was issued against both the first and the second accused under the Section 32 (chapter II, general explanations), of the Penal Code making both the accused liable as if the act was done by the one and same person. The second accused tried to defend himself stating that he was under the influence of alcohol and pleaded that he was not in a state to thinking clearly because he was forcefully drunk by the first accused and he defended under the Section 78 of Penal Code (Ordinance No. 2 of 1883). The author performed the medico-legal investigation of the deceased and the second accused. In this article, the importance of having the legal knowledge surrounding this scenario is discussed.