Bombay High Court reduces death penalty of 2 men to life term in 2013 Nashik murder case

4 min readMumbaiJun 25, 2026 04:24 PM IST

The Bombay High Court also decided on the state's plea seeking confirmation of the death penalty for the two men for Vipin Bafna's murder.(Express Photo)

The Bombay High Court on Thursday commuted the death sentences of two men convicted for the 2013 kidnapping and murder of a 22-year-old man in Nashik district, sentencing them instead to life imprisonment for 30 years.

A bench of Justices Bharati H Dangre and Manjusha A Deshpande passed a ruling on appeals by Chetan Yashwantrao Pagare and Aman Prakatsingh Jat, who were 25 and 22 years of age at the time of the crime, against their conviction by the Nashik Special Court. In December 2022, Special Judge Aditee U Kadam convicted the two accused and acquitted three others in the case.

The bench also decided on the state’s plea seeking confirmation of the death penalty for the two men.

“The appeal (against conviction and death penalty) is partly allowed by confirming the finding of conviction but commuting the sentence to life imprisonment for a period of 30 years. Confirmation case filed by the state is dismissed, the two appeals (by convicts against death penalty) are partly allowed,” the bench held.

A missing man

As per the prosecution, in June 2013, Gulabchand Bafna, father of the deceased man Vipin, a resident of Ojhar in Niphad Taluka in Nashik district, informed the police that his son had left for a dance class on June 8 but did not return home. Gulabchand claimed Vipin had been missing since he got out of his brother’s car in the Panchavati Karanja area of Nashik city at 5 pm that day.

Gulabchand also claimed that Vipin was last contacted on his mobile at 11.15 pm that day, when he told them he was staying at his friend’s house because they were late for class. However, when the father visited the dance academy the next day, he was told that Vipin had not attended the previous day’s class, and he then approached the police.

On June 9, around 11.18 am, an unknown person called Vipin’s father from his son’s mobile phone, claiming that he had been kidnapped, and demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore for his release and threatened him against disclosure. Gulabchand lodged a report with the police on June 10, adding that there was no conversation with his son after the ransom call and that his mobile number was switched off.

‘Extreme perverted mentality’

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Vipin’s body was found in a field in the Adgaon area on June 14, 2013, and subsequently, five people were arrested by the police and booked for offences of murder and kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The Special Court designated under MCOCA, in its verdict, observed that Vipin had no previous enmity with the convicts and there was “absolutely no provocation” by him to instigate them to take his life.

The court observed that Vipin’s body had 26 injuries which were inflicted by using deadly weapons in a “diabolical” manner, and the accused persons’ act indicated an “extreme perverted mentality” that they had “no value for human life”.

“Overall impact of the incident shocked the collective conscience of society,” the special court observed.

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Sentencing Pagare and Jat to the death penalty, the court termed the “heinous crime” as having fallen in the “rarest of the rare” category with “no ground to show leniency or mercy” to the accused, having “no repentance” and “no likelihood of reform.”

Omkar Gokhale is a journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Mumbai. His work demonstrates exceptionally strong Expertise and Authority in legal and judicial reporting, making him a highly Trustworthy source for developments concerning the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court in relation to Maharashtra and its key institutions.

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Affiliation: Reports for The Indian Express, a national newspaper known for its rigorous journalistic standards, lending significant Trustworthiness to his legal coverage.

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