If a group does something together, everyone in the group is automatically equally guilty.

Section 35 says liability depends on each person's own knowledge or intention, not just their participation in the group act.

Section 35 is the same as Section 34 (common intention).

Courts distinguish them: Section 34 applies to acts that are criminal in themselves done with common intention, while Section 35 applies to acts that are criminal only because of a specific guilty knowledge or intention.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 35

repealed

When such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention

Whenever an act, which is criminal only by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention, is done by several persons, each of such persons who joins in the act with such knowledge or intention is liable for the act in the same manner as if the act were done by him alone with that knowledge or intention.§

Why this exists

The Indian Penal Code often makes an act criminal only when it is paired with a particular guilty mind — for example, causing death can be innocent, negligent, or murderous depending on intent. When several people act together, the law needed a rule to avoid punishing everyone identically regardless of what each person actually knew or intended. Section 35 ensures that group participation doesn't erase individual differences in mental state; it complements Section 34 (common intention for acts criminal in themselves) by covering acts whose criminality depends specifically on knowledge or intention.

How courts read it

Courts have distinguished Section 35 from Section 34 by noting that Section 34 deals with acts that are inherently criminal (like causing hurt), while Section 35 deals with acts that become criminal only because of a particular mental state accompanying them. Judicial decisions emphasize that under Section 35, if two people participate in the same physical act but one had guilty knowledge and the other did not, only the one with guilty knowledge is liable under this provision — liability is not automatically shared just because the act was joint.

Common misconceptions

Myth: If a group does something together, everyone in the group is automatically equally guilty.
Fact: Section 35 says liability depends on each person's own knowledge or intention, not just their participation in the group act.
Myth: Section 35 is the same as Section 34 (common intention).
Fact: Courts distinguish them: Section 34 applies to acts that are criminal in themselves done with common intention, while Section 35 applies to acts that are criminal only because of a specific guilty knowledge or intention.