The Supreme Court Friday held nine people guilty of murdering former home minister Haren Pandya who was shot dead in 2003 while on a morning walk.
Restoring the trial court's order that had held 12 persons guilty of various offences in the case, it said that the Gujarat High Court's acquitting the nine people accused of the murder charge was "wholly uncalled for" and was based on a "wrong approach".
The trial court had awarded jail term ranging from five years to life imprisonment to the 12 accused.
A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Vineet Saran, while appreciating the evidence including forensic, medical and testimony of key witnesses, said that the trial court had rightly held nine persons guilty of murdering Pandya.
Regarding the three other accused -- Mohmed Abdul Rauf, Mohd Shafiuddin and Shahnawaz Gandhi -- the bench said since the CBI had not preferred to file any appeal against the lower court's verdict absolving them of murder charges before the high court, "no further interference" was required.
Pandya was home minister in the then Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government and was shot dead on March 26, 2003 near Law Garden in Ahmedabad.
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According to the CBI, Pandya was killed to avenge the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat.
"We restore the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court on A1 (Mohmed Asgar Ali), A4 (Kalim Ahmed), A5 (Anas Machiswala), A6 (Mohmed Yunus Sareshwala), A7 (Rehan Puthawala), A8 (Mohmed Riyaz alias Goru), A9 (Mohmed Parvez Sheikh), A10 (Parvez Khan Pathan) and A11 (Mohmed Faruq) under section 3(1) and 3(3) of POTA and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and section 302 (murder) read with section 120B IPC as ordered by the trial court," the bench said.
The top court, however, dismissed a PIL filed by NGO 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation' (CPIL) seeking a court-monitored fresh probe in the Pandya murder case.
It also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on CPIL for filing the PIL observing that it was not a "bona fide" petition and "bereft of merit".
"No ground for further reinvestigation or investigation is made out in the matter. The writ petition is dismissed
Regarding the three other accused, who were not convicted for murder charge by the trial court, the apex court said, "However, with respect to A2 (Mohmed Abdul Raouf), A3 (Mohd Shafiuddin) and A-12 (Shahnawaz Gandhi), the CBI did not prefer any appeal in the high court against them and since A3 (Mohd Shafiuddin) and A12 (Shahnawaz Gandhi) have completed the sentence fully awarded to them by the trial court and in the case of A2 (Mohd Abdul Raouf) as modified by the high court, no further interference is made and the appeal against them is dismissed."
It further said, "The acquittal recorded by the high court was wholly uncalled for and is based on basically a wrong approach. It was incumbent upon the high court to come a close quarter of reasoning employed by the trial court and assessment of the evidence of the witnesses done by the trial court with great care, in an elaborate manner."
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