A.M. Khanwilkar, J. - (1.) These appeals have been filed by the Accused No.1 (Criminal Appeal No.1586 of 2008), Accused No. 2 (Criminal Appeal No.1549 of 2007) and Accused No. 5 (Criminal Appeal No.1550 of 2007) against the judgment and final order of the High Court of Gujarat dated 1st September, 2006. The High Court has upheld the decision of the Sessions Court, convicting Accused Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 for offences under Sections 302 r/w 120-B, 364 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC') and for the murder of one Gadadharanandji. The High Court, however, has acquitted Accused No.4 of the said offences. The High Court commuted the death sentence awarded by the Sessions Court to a sentence of life imprisonment for the aforementioned four accused. Accused No.3 has not filed any appeal before this Court against the impugned judgment.
(2.) The factual matrix of the case in hand, as gleaned from the pleadings and submissions of the parties as also the record, is as under: (a)The Board of Trustees of the Swami Narayan sect of Vadtal Gadi Temple comprises of 8 members, including the Chairman and Chief Kothari, who handle the administration and financial management of the temples run by the sect. (b)One Gadadharanandji was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees on 11th April 1998. At that point in time, one Bhakti Dasji was the Chief Kothari and Narayan Shastri (Accused No. 1) was the Assistant Kothari. Charandas Swami (Accused No.2) was informally working as an assistant to Accused No. 1, while Madhav Prasad (Accused No.3), Ghanshyam (Accused No.4, now acquitted) and Vijay Bhagat (Accused No.5) were henchmen of Accused Nos.1 and 2. (c)On 16th April, 1998, an agenda was circulated for a meeting of the Board of Trustees to be held on 22nd April, 1998, wherein the Chairman, Gadadharanandji, proposed to transfer the Kotharis away from the Vadtal Temple. That move was not approved by the rival camp. They also feared of being exposed of their misdeeds and maladministration. (d)On 3rd May, 1998, Gadadharanandji went missing from the temple premises. The next day i.e. 4th May, 1998, a burnt body was found in a ditch at Barothi Village, in the neighbouring State of Rajasthan which was subsequently identified as that of Gadadharanandji. A post mortem of the body revealed that the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation. (e)Meanwhile, one of the deceased's disciples, Jatin Bhagat (PW3) filed a missing person complaint about the sudden disappearance of Gadadharanandji with the local police on 5th May, 1998. This complaint was transferred to the local crime branch and then the state crime branch. PW3 subsequently filed a petition before the High Court of Gujarat, which transferred the investigation of the case to the CBI on 5th October 1998. (f) The CBI eventually on 29th October, 1998 registered a new FIR against some persons, including the Appellants, for kidnapping Gadadharanandji. During the course of investigation, all the five accused were arrested in connection with the disappearance of Gadadharanandji. (g)The investigation established the chain of events leading to the disappearance of Gadadharanandji. According to the prosecution, the accused kidnapped Gadadharanandji from the Vadtal Temple complex, took him in a blue car/van to the Navli Temple complex where they procured a call girl for him, after which they sedated and then strangled him. However, this chain of events was at odds with the panchnama drawn at the behest of Accused No. 3 wherein he is stated to have confessed that he himself kidnapped Gadadharanandji from the temple, drove him to his (Accused No. 3) house in Vadtal and then strangled him there using the deceased's 'khesiya' (cloth usually placed around the neck). Accused No.3 also claimed that he returned with the deceased's body in his car to Vadtal, informed Accused No.1 about the deed and then took Accused No.5 along with him to Rajasthan where they disposed of the dead body of deceased by throwing it in a ditch and lighting it on fire. (h)Post-investigation, the Chief Judicial Magistrate vide his order dated 10th August, 1999 remitted the case against all the five accused. The trial proceeded before the District and Sessions Court at Kheda at Hadiat, being Sessions Case No. 369 of 1999. Various charges including those under u/S. 120-B, 364, 302 and 201 of the IPC were framed against the Accused. (i) On 11th June, 2004, the Sessions Court, Nadiad convicted all the five accused for offence under Section 302 r/w 120-B of the IPC and sentenced them to death. The Accused were also convicted u/S. 364 r/w 120-B of the IPC and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life. Accused Nos. 2 and 5 were further convicted under S. 201 r/w S. 120-B and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. (j) The accused preferred an appeal to the High Court of Gujarat which was heard alongwith the confirmation reference. The High Court confirmed the conviction against Accused Nos.1, 2, 3 and 5, but acquitted Accused No.4. The High Court, however, commuted the death sentence to a sentence of life imprisonment.
(3.) The case of the prosecution is that the accused were misappropriating funds from the temple in which they were functionaries. Gadadharanandji, being the newly elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the temple, intended to transfer the accused from the Vadtal Temple. This proposal bewildered and irked the accused. They conspired to and subsequently murdered Gadadharanandji to put an end to his plan to transfer them. After the murder, the accused transported the body of the deceased to Rajasthan where they burned it to destroy the evidence.;