NEW DELHI: Thirty-five years after 21 people were sentenced to life imprisonment in a double murder case in Bihar, Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted the accused and closed the case, cautioning courts to be careful while dealing with the offence of unlawful assembly so that innocent spectators or passive onlookers do not get convicted. SC said the prosecution had failed to prove its case and the accused were entitled to the benefit of the doubt. It said the testimonies of witnesses in the case neither corroborated one another nor were aligned with the medical records. ‘Can’t be held prosecution discharged burden of proof’ The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said “The various contradictions in the form of material omissions go to the root of the matter, and in such circumstances, it cannot be held that the prosecution has discharged its burden of proof”.The incident, a clash between two groups over a land dispute, took place in Katihar district in 1988, and the accused were convicted and sentenced by the trial court in 1990. Two convicts died during the pendency of the case.The court said mere presence at the scene of crime does not ipso facto render a person a member of an unlawful assembly, unless it is established that the person shared its common object. “A mere bystander, to whom no specific role is attributed, would not fall within the ambit of section 149 of the IPC,” it said.“This court, as a matter of caution, has enunciated parameters to safeguard innocent spectators or passive onlookers from being convicted merely on account of their presence. This cautionary rule, however, does not dilute the doctrine of constructive liability, under which proof of an overt act by each individual is not indispensable. Where the presence of a large number of persons is established and many are implicated, prudence mandates strict adherence to this rule of caution,” the bench said.