STATE OF GOA Vs. SANJAY THAKRAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by the judgment and final order dated 30-09-2003 of the High Court of Bombay at Goa whereby the accused persons/respondents, namely, Sanjay Thakran (respondent no. 1/A- 1) and his wife Anjali Thakran (respondent no. 2/A-2) were acquitted of the offences charged under Sections 120-B, 364, 302 and 392 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, these criminal appeals have been preferred by the State of Goa and father of one of the deceased persons. Earlier, by the judgment delivered on 09-01- 2002, the Court of IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Panaji has acquitted both the accused persons of all the abovementioned charges levelled against them.

(2.) The relevant facts, as per the evidence adduced and the First Information Report, are that on 26-02-1999, the deceased couple, namely, Vikas Nanda (D-1, age 26 years) and Kavita Nanda @ Priya Nanda (D-2, age 23 years), arrived in Goa from Mumbai for their honeymoon and stayed in Hotel Seema at Ribandar. On 27-02-1999, the deceased couple went for sight-seeing at Ozran, Vagator with P.W.13-Vincent, who was the car driver and had also taken them for the sight-seeing trip a day earlier as well. At about 2.30 p.m., D-1 told P.W.-13 that they had met some friends from Delhi and hence P.W.-13 returned from there. P.W.30-Suhasini Govekar, who operated a shack at Anjuna beach with her husband, mentioned that on 27-02-1999, the accused couple and their children came to her place in between 1.00-2.00 p.m. and then went to take bath. When they returned back, the deceased couple accompanied them. The accused couple was running a bar and the restaurant Iguana Miraj and hotel Lalita Beach Resort in Goa. P.W.11-Dinesh Adhikari, who was servant of the respondents, saw the deceased couple at respondents' hotel 2 or 3 days preceding the festival of Holi in the year 1999 at approximately 6.00-7.00 p.m. According to this prosecution witness, A-1-Sanjay Thakran, D-1-Vikas Nanda and P.W.14-Calvert were sitting outside the hotel and A-2-Anjali Thakran was sitting with D-2-Priya Nanda inside a room in the hotel. He saw A-1-Sanjay Thakran and D-1-Vikas Nanda walking towards the beach sometime after 9.00-9.30 p.m. and that was the last time when D-1 was seen alive. After sometime P.W.11 saw A-1-Sanjay Thakran, A-2-Anjali Thakran and D-2-Priya Nanda as they were walking away from Iguana Miraj. Another prosecution witness, P.W.14-Calvert Gonsalves also saw the deceased couple at the hotel of the accused couple. As per P.W.6-Amit Banerjee, who was working as a receptionist at Hotel Seema, D-2-Priya Nanda returned to Hotel Seema without D-1 and along with A-1-Sanjay Thakran at about 11.30 p.m. She asked for the key of their room from P.W. 6. A-1- Sanjay Thakran helped her to carry the luggage from the Hotel room as she checked out about 11.40 p.m. A-2 did not come to the hotel and remained seated in the white colour Maruti Car that had a Delhi registration number on it. D-2-Priya Nanda, A-1-Sanjay Thakran and A-2-Anjali Thakran went away in that car and thus, D-2 was also last seen alive in the company of the accused couple.

(3.) On 28-02-1999, P.W.2-Charles Mills lodged a report at Anjuna Police Station that a dead body of unknown female foreigner (later identified as D-2) was found at the Vagator Beach. According to this witness, who was staying near the beach, at around 7.30 a.m., he was told by someone that a female body was floating in the seawater. The deceased was wearing a blue skirt and a top. On the same day, P.W.17-Fausto Afonso lodged report with Colva Police Station that a dead body of unknown male foreigner (later identified as D-1) was found at about 00.30 hours at the Benaulim Beach. The distance between the Vagator Beach and Benaulim Beach is around 60 kilometers.