New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Two men were Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court here for murdering a gay man, Pushkin Chandra, and his friend Kuldip in 2004.

Additional Sessions Judge A.K. Kuhar sentenced Rajesh Rekhwar, 27, and Moti, 25, under sections 302 (murder) and 308 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court also imposed a fine of Rs.3,000 each on the convicts.

"No doubt the convicts committed a ghastly murder in a very brutal fashion. The lifestyle of Pushkin Chandra, which is reflected from various photographs which were placed on judicial file, shows his indulgence in unnatural sex with boys," the judge noted in his 53-page order.

Pushkin Chandra, 38, an employee with the United Nations Development Programme and son of a retired IAS officer, was found dead at his Anand Lok residence here along with his friend Kuldip on the night of Aug 13, 2004.

Rekhwar, in his disclosure statement, claimed that Chandra used to pick him up and Moti Connaught Place to have sex with them. Pornographic tapes of men engaged in same-sex activity were recovered from the murder scene. Pushkin's car and several other belongings were missing.

"The dead body of Chandra was found lying naked in the bathroom. Without going further on this aspect, I put a question whether the convicts had any justification in killing two human beings in such a brutal manner? The answer would be no," the court said.

The court, however, said the crime does not fall in the category of rarest of rare cases that could entail the death sentence.

Rekhwar's lawyer Aman Sareen, during the arguments on the quantum of sentence, said the court must consider the circumstances in which the murders took place. Sareen also said that Rekhwar is HIV positive and his family of wife and three children would suffer with harsher punishment.

Sareen said he would appeal against the order in the high court.

Rekhwar's wife, who was present in the court along with her children, broke down on hearing the sentence.

Moti, who represented his case himself, said: "I have no criminal record and my family will suffer if harsh punishment is handed to me."

Admitting that there was no direct evidence to nail the accused, the court said: "The entire case is based on circumstantial evidence. The criminal trial, which is based on circumstantial evidence, put an extra burden on the court...The court has to be on its guard not to be swayed by the nature and gravity of the offence and it has to judge the evidence with much more care and caution."

Holding the accused guilty, the court said: "The death was homicidal and not natural and the cause of death was injuries on the dead bodies..."

Refuting submissions by the defence counsel that Pushkin sexually exploited the two convicts and later blackmailed them, the court said: "After going through photographs of the deceased, it was clear that he is involved in unnatural sex with boys. But at the same time...no material could be gathered to show that he used to blackmail the poor boys with whom he used to indulge in sexually perverted acts."

"Nobody gets a right to eliminate a human being for whatever injustice has been caused to him. If this attitude is given sanction, what will happen to the civil society which is governed by law?" the judge wondered

The court, however, acquitted Munna and Jai Kishore, who were accused of being involved in "destruction of evidence" and "keeping the stolen property" for lack of proof.

While convicting Rekhwar and Moti, the court relied on witness Hare Ram, the domestic help of Chandra's father. Ram had identified both the accused as the people last seen with Chandra and Kuldip.

According to the prosecution, Ram was the first to discover the bodies and the last to have seen the victims alive. He was one of the 37 prosecution witnesses who deposed before the court.

"Chandra's belongings, including a DVD player, that were recovered by the police from Rekhwar's house also formed the basis of his conviction. The prosecution had also produced photographs taken at an ATM in which Rekhwar was seen withdrawing cash using Chandra's ATM cards," the chargesheet read.