- (1.) Accused no.3 - Vanrajsinh Harubha Zhala married the deceased Neelamben on 11.2.2000. Neelamben allegedly suffered burn injuries on 9.5.2000 at 4.00 p.m. Based on the above incident, criminal prosecution was initiated against Harubha Jilubha Shala (accused no.1) - father-in-law of the deceased Neelamben, Janakba Harubha Zhala (accused no.2) - mother-in-law of the deceased Neelamben, Vanrajsinh Harubha Zhala (accused no.3) - husband of the deceased Neelamben, Yogesh Harubha Zhala (accused no.4) - brother of the husband of the deceased Neelamben, and Binaben Mahendra Jadeja (accused no.5) - sister of accused no.3 and daughter of accused nos. 1 and 2.
(2.) Sessions Case No. 354 of 2000 was entrusted to the Additional City Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad. On the conclusion of the trial, accused nos. 4 and 5 were acquitted, whereas, accused nos. 1 to 3 were convicted. Accused nos. 1 to 3 were found guilty of the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 34 thereof, and were sentenced to life imprisonment therefor. The same accused were also found guilty for the offence punishable under Section 304-B read with Section 114 of the Indian Penal Code, and were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for seven years on this count. All the three accused were also found guilty of having committed an offence under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, and were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of three years under the instant provision. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
(3.) All the three accused, convicted by the trial Court, preferred Criminal Appeal No. 817 of 2001 before the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad (hereinafter referred to as the 'High Court'). The High Court, by the impugned judgment dated 11.02.2009, dismissed the appeal. The impugned judgment rendered by the High Court on 11.02.2009 has been assailed only on behalf of two accused, namely, accused no.1 - Harubha Jilubha Zhala, the father-in-law of the deceased - Neelamben, and accused no.3 - Vanrajsinh Harubha Zhala, the husband of the deceased - Neelamben.;