Case: Charandas Swami Vs. State Of Gujarat

2. The factual matrix of the case in hand, as gleaned from the pleadings and submissions of the parties as also the record, is asBoard 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 deceaseds 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 deceaseds `khesiya (cloth usually placed around the neck). Accused No.3 also claimed that he returned with the deceaseds 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.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.4. We shall briefly advert to the approach of the Sessions Court and that of the High Court. The trial court proceeded to answer the charges against the appellants broadly on the following basis. Firstly, it has dealt with the circumstance of motive to kidnap the deceased with a common intention to murder. It has noted that in April 1998, the deceased was elected as the chairman of the Swaminarayan Temple at Vadtal. The Chief Kothari was in charge of administration of the temple and Accused No.1 was the assistant Kothari, helping him in administering the temple. Accused No.2, while not holding any official post, also worked in the temple, as did Accused Nos. 3 to 5. The Chief Kothari was the cashier of the temple and Accused No.1, by virtue of his position, assisted him as a cashier. Accused No.2 was also assisting Accused No.1. Further, the income generated by the temple was substantial and Accused Nos. 1 and 2 were involved in financial irregularities. Since the Chief Kothari was very old, Accused No.1 was doing all the financial deals on his behalf. Evidence of PW39, a grocer who supplied goods to the temple, reveals that he used to supply goods to the temple. These transactions would obviously have been possible only with the knowledge and approval of Accused No.1, who was in control of the administration and financial transactions of the temple at the relevant time. Further, PW39 gave huge amounts of cash to Accused Nos. 1 and 2, which was corroborated in the form of bills, and credit memos recovered from the house of Accused No.1. There was also a large amount of unaccounted cash recovered from the house of Accused No.2. Neither of the accused could explain the source of such cash. The evidence brings to light that Accused Nos. 1 and 2 used to get kickbacks from purchase of goods supplied to the temple.5. The trial court then found that the deceased, by virtue of being the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was in a position to influence the transfer of the Kotharis and had even discussed the same with the Board. The transfer of the Chief Kothari would obviously have implications for the assistant Kothari i.e. Accused No.1 and by extension, Accused No.2. Accused Nos. 1 and 2 were aware of such a proposal to transfer the Kothari and had interacted with the deceased about the same. Accused No.1 had gone to the extent of telling the deceased that if he was transferred, he would rebel against that move. While the accused suggested that there were other persons who bore enmity towards the deceased and wanted him killed, no evidence was brought on record to substantiate the same by the defence. The prosecution case about motive of the accused to commit crime was corroborated by the evidence of PW3, PW4, PW5, PW21, PW22, PW33 and PW35. The motive of the accused to commit the crime has thus been proved.6. The trial court then dealt with the factum of disappearance of deceased and last seen theory. The fact that the deceased disappeared on the afternoon of 3rd May, 1998, is indisputable. This is corroborated by the evidence of PW8 and PW3. The evidence of PW16 infact reveals that he had seen Accused No.3 sitting in a blue car at the steps of the Vadtal Temple around the time the deceased went missing. PW15 has also stated that he saw Accused No.3 driving away from the Vadtal Temple with the deceased in a blue coloured car. PW14 also turned hostile. The court noted that even if PW14 and PW15 had turned hostile, the totality of the evidence including of PW64 established the fact that Accused Nos. 3 and 4 were seen lastly with the deceased on the day of the disappearance. That was found crucial.7. With regard to the presence of the accused at Navli, the trial court, relying on the evidence of PW17, found that Accused No.2 bought 7 cans of cold drinks from a shop outside the Vadtal Temple at around 2-2:30PM. The evidence of PW25, though he turned hostile, shows that he brought along a call girl-PW49 to the Navli Temple at around 2:30 PM on 3rd May, 1998; Accused No.2 met him there at around 3:00 PM. PW48 has deposed that a call was made by Accused No.2 to PW25 at around the same time. As the distance between the Vadtal and Navli Temples could be covered within 30-45 minutes, the presence of Accused No.2 at Navli is likely.8. The trial court noticed that although PW49 has been declared hostile, she admitted to have given her statement to the investigating agency wherein she identified the deceased and of having physical relations with him on the day of the murder. This has been corroborated by an independent pancha witness.9. The trial court has found that PW31 deposed that Accused No.5 had taken him to Navli and shown him where the alleged murder was committed. There, PW31 found tablets which were used to drug the deceased. PW28, who took videos of the same also deposed to the correctness of the video. PW20 deposed that he had supplied the said tablets to the accused. This evidence has been accepted as reliable.10. The trial court then held that the motive behind the murder of the deceased was that he was going to transfer Accused No.1 away from the Vadtal Temple and, therefore, Accused No.1 feared losing his control over financial matters of the temple and also of being exposed of the financial irregularities committed by him in the past in relation to temple finances. The said accused, therefore, hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the deceased with an intention to murder him. The deceased was last seen in the company of Accused Nos.3 and 4 before he went missing from Vadtal. Accused No.5 showed the spot where the offence was committed. The conspiracy to commit the murder, while not proved through ocular evidence, could be established through circumstantial evidence. While Accused No.1 was not personally in the forefront, he is responsible for criminal conspiracy.11. The trial court also dealt with the evidence regarding recovery of dead body of the deceased. It has noted that PW50 deposed that he found a burnt body in a ditch behind his house in Barothi village and informed the police about the same. A video of the body was also taken by the police. The body was examined by PW57 who inter alia noted three golden teeth and a key. Blood and skin samples of the body were taken and subsequently identified as that of the deceased after performing a DNA test with blood samples of his sister. The key found on the body was similar to the one possessed by PW3. The said key opened the lock to the room of the deceased. The investigating agency was informed about the spot of disposal of the dead body by Accused No. 3 and that was corroborated by independent witnesses. The trial court rejected the argument that the investigating agency used witnesses who were already pre-disposed against the accused.12. The trial court then found that the evidence of PW57 clearly showed that the death of the deceased was not accidental but homicidal. The deceased had been strangulated. The argument that since the body had suffered certain bone fractures, therefore strangulation could not have been the method of murder, was rejected. The Court found that any fractures on the body would have probably occurred as a result of it being burned and also because of the advanced age of the deceased.13. The trial court held that the fact that the location of disposal of the dead body was shown by Accused No.3 and that the nature of crime was such that it involved pre-planning, indicative of conspiracy among the accused to commit the murder.14. The trial court then took notice of the evidence regarding attempted disappearance of the evidence. In that, after the incident, the accused tried to destroy the evidence by setting the car on fire in which they had transported the deceased and then claiming insurance for the same as an accident case. The insurance company rejected the said claim. The Court found that the evidence of PW6 clearly showed that the car did not get burned due to any accident or internal malfunction.15. The trial court adverted to the evidence of attempt of the Accused No.5 to dispose of a chain and pendant worn by the deceased by approaching a goldsmith, one Jignesh Soni (PW19). In his evidence, PW19 identified the chain and pendant and stated that he exchanged the same with gold.16. The trial court, on the above analysis, recorded finding of guilt against all the five accused and was of the opinion that the offence committed by them was not only heinous but also a rarest of rare case warranting the death penalty. Accordingly, a death reference was forwarded by the trial court to the High Court for confirmation.17. Before the High Court, besides the confirmation case, appeals filed by the accused assailing the order of conviction and sentence proceeded together for hearing. The High Court re-assessed and appraised the entire evidence afresh and recorded an independent finding of guilt against Accused Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5. The High Court at the outset noted that the prosecution was not supporting the view taken by the trial court that the case would fall into the category of rarest of rare cases warranting death penalty. After taking note of that contention, the High Court proceeded to examine as to whether the prosecution had proved the charges against the Appellants beyond any reasonable doubt.18. The High Courts decision proceeds in the followingIn light of the judgment in Subbaiah Ambalam v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1977 SC 2046 , the High Court decided to examine the entire evidence before it, independent of the findings and conclusions of the trial Court. It noted that the jurisdiction of the High Court was co-extensive with that of the trial court in assessing, appraising and appreciating evidence.b) Then, adverting to the evidence of PW57 who conducted the autopsy of the burnt body found at Barothi, the High Court opined that the burns were post-mortem and not ante-mortem. The fracture found on the body was probably caused as the deceased struggled while being strangulated or due to mishandling of the dead body. The presence of a fracture does not indicate that there was any other cause of death. Death was due to asphyxia by strangulation. The burning of the body was an attempt to destroy the evidence. The condition of the heart of the deceased, though disputed by the counsel for the accused, could not rule out the possibility that death was caused by strangulation.c) As regards the identity of the dead body, the High Court took note of the following:i) PW57, who conducted the autopsy of the dead body found at Barothi, deposed that a key tied with cotton thread was recovered from near the dead body. This key opened the lock to the room of the deceased at the Vadtal Temple.ii) Skin samples and teeth extracts of the deceased were obtained and matched with blood samples of the sister of the deceased. DNA testing showed a biological relation between the dead person and his sister.iii) Three teeth of the dead body had gold caps. PW1 deposed that he had treated the deceased in 1993 and that he had put the said gold caps on the teeth of the deceased during treatment. This is corroborated by receipts and diary entries of PW1. Certain documentary evidence produced by the prosecution vis-a-vis photocopies of the case papers seemed to be exaggerated with regard to the number of teeth treated by PW1. Still, the deposition of PW1 was found to be reliable.iv) PW20 had taken a video of the post mortem carried out at the spot which corroborated the items found on the body/samples taken from the body.d) While considering the evidence regarding the circumstance of last seen together, the High Court broadly noted thus:i) The evidence of PW3 and PW8 corroborates the fact that the deceased was present in the Vadtal Temple on the day of his disappearance i.e. on 3rd May, 1998, at around 12:30PM. The witnesses further stated that they had left the deceased in his room while they went to get chappals but by the time they returned at around 2:30PM, he had gone from the room.ii) PW15 deposed that around the same time, he saw the deceased sitting with Accused No.3 in a blue car and also that he saw the deceased leaving with Accused No.3 in the said blue car between 1:50PM to 2:05PM. Even though PW15 had turned hostile, his evidence could not be wholly disregarded.iii) PW16 also deposed that he saw a blue car at the steps of the Vadtal Temple around the same time. Thus, an inference could be drawn against the accused in whose company the deceased was last seen and Accused No.3 failed to rebut the same.e) The High Court then considered the evidence regarding the disclosure made by Accused No.3 during interrogation. That revealed to the police that the body of the deceased had been dumped in a spot at Barothi village (Exh.188). This disclosure was considered admissible u/S.27 of the Indian Evidence Act.f) The High Court then considered the criticism of the defence that some of the panchas chosen by the prosecution were hostile towards the accused owing to prior disputes between the parties. It held that the investigating authorities ought to have been more careful before calling upon such persons who had a prior history of dispute with the accused. However, the High Court opined that the fact remains that the panchas were called merely to complete the formalities of preparing the panchnama. Hence, this lack of due diligence by itself would not render their evidence inadmissible.g) The High Court also considered the argument of the defence that the case of the prosecution that they found various items such as pieces of cotton and tablet wrappers at the place of the alleged offence, seems highly unlikely given the time lapse between the time of the offence and the time when the officials actually reached that place. The High Court noted that there was no evidence on record to prove how such lapse of time and weather conditions would not lead to contamination of such articles alleged to have been found.h) The High Court then dealt with the evidence regarding the blue car in which the deceased was allegedly transported to Navli and then subsequently to Barothi village, where his dead body was found burned. The High Court held that the prosecution has proved that the car did not catch fire by accident but rather was intentionally burned by the accused to destroy traces of evidence. This has been corroborated by the evidence of the official of the insurance company which insured the said vehicle.i) With reference to the evidence of procuring a call girl for the deceased, the High Court held that the evidence of the cellphone records clearly shows that Accused No.2 was in contact with PW25, who allegedly procured the call girl for the deceased. A telephone call was made around the time of the incident, most presumably summoning PW25 and the call girl to the Navli Temple. Additionally, the call girl herself PW49, identified the picture of the deceased as the man she had been with at the time of the incident. This fact is corroborated by PW32. Although both PW25 and PW49 have turned hostile, the totality of prosecution evidence corroborates the fact that PW49 was taken to Navli by PW25.j) The High Court also considered the argument of the defence about the possibility of involvement of other persons who were inimical towards the deceased and were also named as suspects in the FIR. This argument has been rejected owing to lack of any evidence in support of the same. The High Court held that mere ill-will of the persons towards the deceased cannot be a reason to commit murder.k) The High Court, however, held that the prosecution failed to conclusively prove that the accused procured specific kind of tablets for drugging the deceased.l) The High Court also did not accept the prosecution evidence of Accused No.5 having approached PW19 to exchange the gold chain and amulet of the deceased, as conclusively proved.m) The High Court held that the documents/receipts found in the house of Accused No.1 proving large amounts of financial transactions conducted on behalf of the Vadtal Temple and purportedly bearing his signature, have been proved. The handwriting on the documents seemed to tally with the handwriting of Accused No.1.n) The High Court then examined the circumstance of criminal conspiracy hatched by the accused. It held that Accused No.1 was a managing trustee of the Navli Temple Gurukul, while Accused No.2 was a trustee. Accused No.5 was a disciple of Accused No.2, while Accused Nos. 1 and 3 were related by virtue of being disciples of one guru. It held that while the level of intimacy between the accused by itself cannot prove much, it must be seen in the context of the fact that the accused have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.o) The High Court then found that after the deceased proposed the transfer of the Chief Kothari, it is Accused No.2 who conveyed the message of the head of the temple, one Acharya Maharaj, to the deceased. Further, on the day of the alleged incident, Accused No. 2 purposely took PW3 and PW33 out from the Vadtal Temple to an event, after the crime had been committed, to allay their suspicion as to the whereabouts of the deceased. Additionally, Accused Nos. 2 and 4 left after attending an event at Nadiad in the evening while telling PW3 and PW33 that they would be going to Ahmedabad/Zundal. This was presumably to mislead them. Later, both the accused surfaced at the Vadtal Temple.p) The High Court found that there was clear evidence warranting inference of conspiracy hatched among the accused to commit the murder of the deceased. Further, considering the circumstances surrounding the incident, it is clear that more than two persons were required to carry out the crime. The fact that the Accused No.3 led the police to the place where the body was disposed of, links him to Accused Nos. 1 and 2. PW15 had also seen the deceased leaving from Vadtal with Accused No.3.q) The High Court then noticed that the prosecution conceded that the evidence to link Accused No.4 to the incident was inadequate, as the material witnesses had turned hostile. At the most, the court could infer that Accused No.4 may have been present at Navli when the incident occurred but this would not be sufficient to convict him. However, while dealing with the presence of Accused No.5 at Navli, the High Court noted that he was present from the very beginning of the incident. Moreover, Accused No. 5 is the disciple of Accused No.2 and was even present with him on the day of the incident. Accused No.5 even led the investigating officials to the alleged room where the crime was executed in Navli. There is no reason to disbelieve that evidence. The High Court held that the disclosure made by Accused No.5 was crucial in discovering the place of murder.r) The High Court noted that Accused No.5 was not present at Vadtal on the night of the incident, indicating that he was involved in disposing of the body of the deceased. His presence with Accused No.2, his knowledge of the murder and his conduct clearly marked him out as a co-conspirator.s) The High Court while considering the evidence regarding the circumstance of motive, noted the following aspects:i) The seizure of large amounts of unaccounted cash as well as the presence of large amounts of investments from Accused Nos.1 and 2 goes to show the level of financial dealings of the said accused. No explanation has been offered by the said accused in that regard. Obviously, the said cash was illegally obtained. This goes to explain the common motive behind the actions of the accused, namely that they perceived a threat to their finances and control over the administration of Vadtal Temple.ii) The evidence adduced by the prosecution with regard to "last seen" theory, is such that even if there was a failure to lead evidence as to the motive of the accused, the fact that Accused No.3 pointed out the place where the body of the deceased was dumped goes to show that the crime was committed by them.iii) The fact that the deceased was intending to transfer the Chief Kothari and that the issue was discussed between the Board members, is clearly established.iv) The evidence of PW5 shows that the Chief Kothari had no fixed term and enjoyed the benefit of his office until and unless the Board decided otherwise. The Board of Trustees had discussed the proposal of the deceased with regard to transfer of the Chief Kothari. This was a huge concern to Accused Nos. 1 and 2, especially since they were dealing with the finances of the Vadtal Temple and their position was put under threat.t) After analyzing the relevant circumstances and the evidence on record, the High Court found that the prosecution had proved that the accused were amongst the inner group which had a direct say in the financial and administrative matters of the Board. Apprehending their transfer, a conspiracy was hatched. Thus, there was strong motive for the Accused No. 1 and 2 in particular to commit the crime. In furtherance of that criminal conspiracy, the deceased was taken away by Accused No. 3 in his Maruti van from Vadtal Temple. He was taken to Navli Complex where he was done to death and his dead body was then disposed of in Rajasthan. After disposing of the dead body, the car used in the commission of offence by the Accused No. 3 was set on fire to destroy the evidence. This was obviously done to mislead the investigating agency. The fact that large amounts were seized from the house of Accused Nos. 1 and 2, was sufficient to draw an inference that they had abused their position while dealing with financial matters at Vadtal Temple.u) The High Court accordingly recorded a finding of guilt against Accused Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 for having murdered Gadadharanandji. This conclusion has been recorded even after noticing certain lacunae in the investigation, but the High Court found that the same did not impact the credibility of the prosecution case about the involvement of the Accused Nos.1 to 3 and 5, who have been found guilty of the murder of deceased Gadadharanandji.

Court's reasoning:
41. In all, five accused were put on trial. Accused No. 4 has been acquitted by the High Court. The prosecution has not challenged the acquittal of Accused No. 4. In fact, from the judgment of the High Court it is evident that the prosecution in all fairness conceded that the evidence against Accused No. 4 was insufficient. As regards Accused No. 3, both the courts have found that the prosecution succeeded in establishing the guilt of Accused No. 3. As a result, he has been convicted by the trial court and the finding of guilt against him has been affirmed by the High Court. Accused No. 3 has not filed any appeal against his conviction. That leaves us to consider the case against Accused Nos. 1, 2 and 5 in the present appeals.At the same time, we must remind ourselves of the settled legal position that this Court should be loath to overturn the concurrent findings of fact recorded by the two Courts unless the same are found to be palpably untenable or perverse.In our view, the decision in the case of Navjot Sandhu (Supra) has adverted to all the previous decisions and restated the legal position.It is not necessary to multiply the authorities on this aspect. In our opinion, the Courts below have rightly placed reliance on the fact discovered by the Investigating Officer (PW64) on the basis of the disclosure made by the Accused No.3 on 2nd April 1999, after his arrest on 29th March, 1999, as recorded in Exh. 188. The panchanama Exh.188 was proved by pancha witness PW30. The fact that PW30 was not on good terms with the accused cannot be the basis to discard his evidence. This aspect has been considered by the High Court and in our opinion, rightly, that the evidence of PW30 was relied upon for the limited purpose to prove the panchanama and not for any other relevant fact. We affirm the view taken by the courts below about the admissibility of disclosure of the spot where the dead body of Gadadharanandji was disposed of by Accused No.3. The same stood corroborated from the recovery of a dead body of an unknown person from the same spot by the Rajasthan Police on 4th May, 1998 on the information provided by PW50. That dead body, on subsequent medical examination was found to be of none other than that of Gadadharanandji.49. As regards the identity of the dead body, the Courts below took note of the evidence of PW57 and PW50. PW50 had informed the local police of Barothi on 4th May, 1998 about the dead body of an unknown person lying at the same spot, later on discovered to be that of Gadadharanandji due to the disclosure made by Accused No. 3. PW57 conducted the post-mortem of the burnt dead body found at Barothi village in Rajasthan. He deposed that the death was homicide. He also deposed about the golden teeth and a key found near the dead body. During the course of investigation, it was revealed that the said key could open the lock put up on the room of the deceased in the Vadtal Temple complex. PW3 corroborated that fact. Further, the identity of the dead body was conclusively established from the DNA testing results of the skin sample of the body which matched with the blood samples of the biological sister of the deceased. Additionally, PW1 also confirmed that he had treated the deceased in 1993 by implanting gold caps on his teeth. That statement was corroborated by the receipts and diary entries of PW1. Indeed, the Appellants have vehemently contended that the said medical records are fabricated because of the discrepancies therein. However, the said discrepancies would not discredit the other evidence regarding the identity of the dead body which has been duly corroborated. This view taken by the High Court, in our opinion, is a possible view. It is certainly not a perverse view. As the identity of the dead body of deceased Gadadharanandji is established, it is a strong circumstance to link it to Accused No.3 who had voluntarily disclosed to the investigating agency about the spot/location where the dead body of the deceased was dumped by him and that being the same place in Barothi village in Rajasthan from where the dead body of an unknown person was recovered earlier by the local police.50. That brings us to the efficacy of the disclosure made by Accused No.5 to the investigating agency - the place where Gadadharanandji was brought from Vadtal Temple and the crime of murder was finally executed. The disclosure so made by Accused No. 5 on 18th April, 1999, after his arrest, has been corroborated by the panchanama Ex.198 proved by pancha PW31. The Accused No.5 disclosed the room number in Navli Temple complex where Gadadharanandji had stayed on the day of incident. The Courts below have held the disclosure by Accused No.5 about the place where Gadadharanandji was brought at Navli Temple complex, as admissible. We affirm that view for the reasons noted while considering the efficacy of disclosure of Accused No.3. From this evidence, it is obvious that Gadadharanandji was taken away by Accused No.3 in a car from Vadtal Temple complex and brought to Navli Temple complex on 3rd May, 1998 itself. His dead body was dumped in a ditch in village Barothi in Rajasthan (another State) which was traced on 4th May, 1998 as a consequence of the information given by PW50.As noted earlier, it was only on the basis of the disclosure made by Accused No.5 as to the place where the murder was committed, that the investigating agency was able to take the investigation forward and then interrogate the aforesaid witnesses i.e. PW25, PW42, PW43 and PW49. Only a person who was present at the time of commission of the offence could have known about the location of the offence and Accused No.5 undoubtedly had exclusive knowledge about the place where the crime was committed, a fact which has been affirmed by both the courts. The panchnama drawn on the basis of this disclosure has been corroborated by independent pancha witness PW31.The Courts below, on analyzing the relevant evidence, have held that the inescapable conclusion is that the deceased was taken to Navli. We are in agreement with this finding, as the evidence on record supports that conclusion.58. On the basis of the aforementioned circumstances, the Courts below have held that the link connecting the chain of events and the link between Accused Nos.1, 2, 3 and 5 was complete in all respects, pointing to the guilt only of the said accused.59. The moot question is as to whythe appellants should have thought of committing thecrime. The motive behind the crime according to the prosecution was that Accused Nos.1 and 2 were irked by the proposal of the deceased Gadadharanandji to transfer them immediately after taking over as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Vadtal Temple on 11th April, 1998. The Courts below have adverted to the evidence of PW3, PW5, PW33, PW37 and PW39 and after analyzing the same, took the view that there was strong motive for Accused No.1 and 2 to murder Gadadharanandji as they felt threatened about their current position and of losing control over the affairs of the Vadtal Temple. Resultantly, the Accused Nos.1 and 2 hatched a conspiracy to commit the offence in question and took the assistance of Accused Nos.3 and 5 who were co-conspirators along with them. This finding was assailed by the appellants mainly on the ground that such a case was a figment of imagination of the prosecution. In fact, there were other persons who were inimical to Gadadharanandji after he was elected as Chairman of the Vadtal Temple. The Courts below have analysed this aspect and have rejected that argument. Both the Courts have held that mere unhappiness of those persons could not have been a ground to take such an extreme step. The fact that the names of other persons were mentioned in the F.I.R. but were dropped in the eventual chargesheet filed by the investigating agency does not diminish the credibility and the quality of evidence adduced by the prosecution about the involvement of the appellants in the commission of crime. As far as Accused Nos.1 and 2 are concerned, the Courts below have held that they were in complete control of the affairs of the Vadtal Temple complex. It is these Accused who were entertaining apprehension that their financial irregularities would also be exposed, in the event of their transfer. The fact that financial irregularities were committed by Accused Nos.1 and 2 and that they were getting kickbacks from PW39, has come on record. The argument of the appellants, however, is that the prosecution has neither produced any evidence about the disproportionate assets of these appellants nor put any specific question to them during their examination under Section 313 of the Code. This argument needs only to be rejected, in that the prosecution case against Accused Nos.1 and 2 was not one of having amassed disproportionate assets but was only of unexplained high-value cash amounts and other investments recovered during the search of their residence.60.The Counsel for the Appellant (Accused No. 1) had contended that there was no evidence against Accused No. 1 and he has been falsely implicated. He had placed reliance on Satenders Case (Supra).In that case, the High Court had acquitted the accused on recording a finding (see Para 29) - that there was no evidence of any overt act attributed to the accused. In the present case, however, the Courts below have after due analysis of the legal evidence and the proved circumstances has unambiguously found that the Accused No. 1 was the mastermind of the conspiracy to murder Gadadharanandji. We see no reason to take a different view. Similarly, it has been concurrently found that Accused Nos.3 and 5 are the henchmen of Accused Nos.1 and 2, a fact which has not been challenged by the said appellants. In other words, the future prospect of Accused Nos.3 to 5 was fully dependent upon the existence and continuation of the Accused Nos.1 and 2 at Vadtal Temple complex. Both the Courts below have analysed these aspects and come to the conclusion that there were strong circumstances indicating the involvement of the appellants in the commission of the crime and excluding any possibility of their innocence.61.Relying upon paragraphs 6, 7 and 9 of the decision in P K Narayanan (Supra), it was argued that mere evidence regarding motive and preparation for commission of the offence is not enough to substantiate the charge of conspiracy to commit offence. In our view, the conclusion reached in that case was on the facts of that case.In the present case, we find that the Courts below have analysed the evidence on record and correctly answered the issue under consideration on the basis of circumstances proved before, during and after the occurrence indicating complicity of the Appellants. These circumstances were not compatible with the possibility of innocence of the Appellants; and moreso because of absence of any explanation from them. We are in agreement with the view so taken by the two Courts, about the involvement of Accused Nos.1, 2, 3 and 5 in the commission of the offence in question.62. Relying upon Paragraphs 13 to 15 of the decision in Baliya @ Bal Kishan (supra), it was argued that the finding of conspiracy recorded by the Courts below is untenable. We are not impressed with this argument. It is well settled that such a conspiracy is rarely hatched in the open. There need not be any direct evidence to establish the same. It can be a matter of inference drawn by the Court after considering whether the basic facts and circumstances on the basis of which inference is drawn have been proved beyond all reasonable doubts and that no other conclusion except that of the complicity of accused to have agreed to commit an offence is evident. That is precisely what has been done by the Courts below in the present case. There is no legal evidence to give benefit of any doubt to the Appellants. We have no hesitation in affirming the view taken by the Courts below in this regard.63. The Appellants have made fervent effort to persuade the Court about the several other discrepancies - such as about the age of the deceased in Exhibits 95 and 98 or that the High Court having discarded the circumstance of wrappers of sleeping pills found at the Navli Temple. That, however, does not discredit the other clinching circumstances established by the prosecution, which completes the chain of events indicative of the involvement of the Appellants in commission of the crime. The circumstances taken into account by both the Courts and as adverted to herein before, leave no manner of doubt about the complicity of the appellants in commission of the crime in question. It is, therefore, not necessary for us to dilate on those contentions.64. We are also not impressed by the argument of Accused No. 5 that he should be given the same benefit as given to Accused No. 4 by the High Court. In so far as Accused No. 5, there is ample evidence about his involvement in commission of the crime. The Courts below have rightly noticed that he was involved, right from the disappearance of Gadadharanandji from Vadtal Temple complex till the disposal of his dead body at Barothi. Those aspects have been considered while discussing the relevant circumstances. We are, therefore, in agreement with the conclusion reached by the Courts below that there is sufficient evidence to indicate the complicity of Accused No. 5 in commission of the crime in question. Suffice it to observe that the circumstances established indicating the complicity of Accused No. 5 cannot be compared with the role of Accused No. 4, so as to give the same benefit to him.65. On analyzing the evidence and the judgments including the findings and conclusion recorded by both the Courts, we have no hesitation in upholding the order of conviction against Accused Nos.1, 2 and 5 (appellants herein). For, the presence of Gadadharanandji at Vadtal Temple complex on the day of incident, the evidence that he was last seen together with Accused No.3 going from Vadtal Temple complex in a car, the recovery of a dead body in village Barothi in the neighboring state of Rajasthan on the next day of disappearance of Gadadharanandji, the disclosure made by Accused No.3 about the location as to where the dead body of Gadadharanandji was dumped by him in a village at Barothi, the discovery of the fact after subsequent medical examination that the dead body so recovered was of none other than that of Gadadharanandji, the disclosure made by Accused No.5 of the location where Gadadharanandji was strangled at Navli Temple complex, the conduct of Accused No.3 in misleading the investigating agencies, the burning of the vehicle used in the commission of the crime and then filing of a false insurance claim which was rejected by the insurance company, the strong motive for committing the murder of Gadadharanandji and the criminal conspiracy hatched in that behalf and executed, leave no manner of doubt about the involvement of the appellants in the commission of the crime. We fully agree with the opinion recorded by the Courts below in that regard. It is not a case of finding of guilt recorded in absence of any legal evidence or contrary to the evidence available on record. We find that the finding of guilt against the appellants is inescapable. Hence, we see no tangible reason to interfere with the final conclusion so reached by both the Courts.