Judgment

AHMADI, J.:- General A. S. Vaidya, the then Chief of the Armed Forces was, on the orders of the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi, assigned the difficult and delicate task of flushing out militants who had taken refuge in the Golden Temple at Amitsar. During this operation, known as the Blue Star Operation, some militants were killed and a part of the Golden Temple known as Harminder Saheb was damaged. Both the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi and General Vaidya had, therefore, incurred the wrath of the Punjab militants for what they called tile desecration of the Golden Temple. They, therefore, vowed to avenge the deaths of their colleagues and punish all those who were responsible for the damage to the Golden Temple. After the assassination of Smt. Gandhi on 31 st October 1984, it is the prosecution case, they waited for General, Vaidya to retire on 31st January, 1986 so that the security cover which would then stand reduced may not be difficult to penetrate. After his retirement General Vaidya decided to settled down in Pune in the State of Maharashtra.

2. After his retirement on 31 st January, 1986, General Vaidya and his wife Bhanumati left Delhi for Pune. A