New Delhi: Two men, including a Nepalese
national, were on Wednesday awarded rigorous life imprisonment by a
Delhi court for murdering a retired Lieutenant General of Army
and his wife while committing robbery in their house in 2004.
Additional Sessions Judge Poonam A Bamba also imposed
a fine of Rs 15,000 each on convicts Bharat Bhandari, a
Nepalese national, who was working as a servant at the
victims' house, and Pradeep Dutta for offences of murder and
robbery.
"I do not find that the circumstances of the present
case was of such a nature that there is no alternative but to
impose death sentence on accused," the ASJ said, disallowing
the plea of the prosecution that they deserved the extreme
penalty for the offence.
Harnam Singh Seth, a retired Army officer, and his
wife Roop Seth were found murdered in their Vasant Enclave
house in South Delhi on the intervening night of June 19-20,
2004.
The old and ailing victims became the easy targets
because their kith and kin were not living with them, the
court said.
During the probe, police suspected complicity of
Bhandari as he was missing after the incident was reported.
Later, the accused, during the interrogation, broke
down and confessed the guilt and helped in recovery of various
robbed articles and some cash. Dutta was also arrested
subsequently.
Over 30 prosecution witnesses, including the
daughter-in-law of the victims, deposed in the matter to prove
the case.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 03, 2010, 20:56