Source – hindustantimes.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court (SC)\u2009has upheld life imprisonment awarded to a Chandigarh man by a trial court for strangling his wife to death and setting the body on fire in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vajinder Paul, a resident of Sector 20, and his paramour, Renu Bains, a resident of a Hoshiarpur village, were convicted for murdering Pooja, 32, on July 13, 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Punjab and Haryana high court had upheld the sentence in January 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Subsequently, Paul filed an appeal before the apex court in October, while Bains did not contest the sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the SC bench of justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar and justice Ajay Rastogi dismissed Paul\u2019s appeal in the first hearing on October 25, whose proceedings were recently made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bench quashed Paul\u2019s argument that the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence and their disclosure statements obtained by the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DUMPED BODY IN\u2009HOSHIARPUR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul, a manager with a famous Chandigarh eatery, had strangled Pooja, put the body in his car, and drove for over three hours, covering a distance of over 100km, to dump the body in Hoshiarpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and Bains had poured petrol over the body and set it afire, before dumping it in a ditch. As the murder came to light, the case made headlines for its brutal cold-bloodedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul became a suspect in the murder on examination of phone call records by the police. He had confessed to having murdered Pooja and taking her body to Hoshiarpur after being arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As police struggled to locate the body, Bains on her arrest had disclosed the charred body\u2019s location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarding life sentence to both accused in 2014, the court of a Chandigarh additional district sessions judge had observed that such persons deserved an exemplary and stringent punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAny breach of trust on either side can prove fatal and deadly. In the case in hand, Vajinder Paul, husband of deceased Pooja, went awry. He broke the trust of his wife deliberately. He crossed all limits of humanity when he, in furtherance of his common intention with his paramour, committed the murder of his wife,\u201d the trial court had said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The high court had upheld their conviction in January 2019, stating that the \u201cchain of crime was complete\u201d. Both convicts were also fined \u20b970,000 each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DECEASED KNEW OF HUSBAND\u2019S AFFAIR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pooja had married Paul in 2007, and the couple had a three-year-old daughter. Bains was also married and had a three-year-old son. Pooja was aware of her husband\u2019s affair, which caused frequent fights between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the prosecution, the duo had eliminated Pooja as they both considered her a hurdle in their relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Case timeline<\/p>\n\n\n\n July 13, 2012: Vajinder Paul picks up his wife, Pooja, and serves her a drink laced with intoxicants, before strangling her to death. Takes the body to Hoshiarpur and dumps it after setting it on fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n July 17: Paul is arrested after victim\u2019s brother expresses suspicion<\/p>\n\n\n\n July 19: Pooja\u2019s charred body found in Hoshiarpur<\/p>\n\n\n\n August 26, 2014: Paul, his paramour Renu Bains held guilty by a Chandigarh additional district sessions judge<\/p>\n\n\n\n October 7, 2014: The duo approach high court against the conviction<\/p>\n\n\n\n January 21, 2019: HC upholds the life sentence awarded to the convicts<\/p>\n\n\n\n October 25, 2019: Apex court dismisses Paul\u2019s appeal in the first hearing.<\/p>\n