Shivani murder: R K Sharma found guilty

Suspended Inspector General of Police Ravi Kant Sharma was on Tuesday convicted for murder of Delhi journalist Shivani Bhatnagar by a city court which held him as the "main conspirator" in the sensational nine-year-old case.

 

In his 110-page judgment, Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri held there was strong circumstantial evidence, including records of telephone calls, that proved that Sharma (54), the Haryana cadre IPS officer, was the main conspirator and co-convict

Pradeep Sharma, a former Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) clerk, was her "killer".

 

Sharma and three others who were convicted can face death penalty or life imprisonment. The quantum of sentence is likely to be pronounced on March 20.

                                                                         The Shivani Murder Coverage Page

During

the sensational trial, Sharma's wife Madhu came out with an allegation that the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan had a hand in the murder, a charge he had strongly refuted. The court, however, refused to accept the prosecution's main theory on the motive behind the murder that the IPS officer plotted Shivani's murder as she had threatened to expose his alleged involvement in leaking classified documents to her while he was posted in the Prime Minister's Office.

 

At the same time, the court relied upon the prosecution's contention that the victim had "intimate" relations with R K Sharma, who wanted to end the relationship as she allegedly threatened to expose him.

 

Three other co-accused-- Sri Bhagwan Sharma, Pradeep Sharma and Satya Prakash -- were also held guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). Accused Ved Prakash Sharma and Ved Prakash alias Kalu were acquitted for want of evidence.