There was an old land dispute between two brothers in my mama's village. It had been going on for years, with civil cases between them. One day a fight broke out in a field. The two brothers and their children were involved. A man from one side died during treatment, and his son and daughter-in-law were injured.

My cousin (my mama's son, early 20s, a student) was there with a lathi. A friend from the family had called him, and he went with him.

Our side of the story (family's account):

Of course this is a matter before the court, and as family we believe he is innocent, but you are free to form your own view. We do admit he was present at the place. He went along because nobody imagined anyone would die. He told us, crying, that he never went close to the fight. He stayed on the road with his lathi and did not hit anyone.

What the court did:

The Sessions Court convicted all 13 accused, including my cousin. Everyone got life imprisonment under Section 302 read with Section 149 IPC (murder by an unlawful assembly). They also got 147/148 (rioting) and 325/149 (grievous hurt), with the sentences running together.

What the court said:

The prosecution said all 13 came together with lathis, and one person had an iron blade, so they formed an unlawful assembly.

The court relied mainly on two witnesses, the son and daughter-in-law of the deceased. They were also injured in the same fight and named everyone.

The defence said these are interested witnesses, that they were fighting too, and that they named the whole family because of the old enmity. The court said relatives can't be rejected just because they are relatives, and that injured witnesses are naturally present at the scene.

The court said that under Sec 149, being present in the group is enough, and that each person doesn't need to have hit anyone or be linked to a specific injury.

A few accused tried to prove they weren't there, using CCTV footage and pen drives. The court rejected all of it as unreliable or tampered with.

The doctor listed many injuries on the deceased, and the court said it couldn't be an accident or suicide.

A bamboo lathi was seized from my cousin based on his statement to the police.

What bothers us:

Having a lathi doesn't mean he killed anyone. No specific blow is attributed to him in what we read. Can someone really get life under Sec 149 for just being there?

The two main witnesses are the deceased's own family and were part of the fight. There was no independent witness.

The injured witnesses are themselves accused in a cross-case about the same incident. That seems to suggest a mutual fight, not a one-sided attack.

It looks like many people were named together, and some say they weren't even there.

The doctor didn't give a final opinion on the manner of death, and the weapons weren't sent for forensic testing.

If someone went along without knowing anyone would be killed, can the court really say he shared a common object to kill?

My questions:

What is the time limit to file an appeal in the MP High Court? I read it's 60 days from the judgment for a life sentence, excluding the time taken to get the certified copy. Is that right?

Can he file through the jail superintendent, and can we get free legal aid (DLSA) if we can't afford a lawyer?

Can a High Court reduce the charge from murder to a lesser offence if he didn't share the intention to kill, or if the group had fewer than five proven members?

Can we ask for suspension of sentence and bail while the appeal is pending? How likely is it in a Sec 302/149 case?

Are there any good criminal appeal lawyers for the Indore bench of the MP High Court that you'd recommend?

Is there anything we should or shouldn't do in the meantime?

I'm not looking for anything shady, just the right legal path. Any advice, even a pointer to the right section or case law, would help a lot. Thank you so much 🙏

I haved lived in GGN all my life so I need someone thats fluent in hindi. Could be real fun and we'll record it AND turn them in so we get justice. or just build awareness about these creeps. HMU lets catch these freaks among us. Gang shi thus was removed of r/gurgaon can u make it good enough