The Hindu : New Delhi News : Long wait for justice

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Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008
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New Delhi

Long wait for justice

Prashant Pandey

The breakthrough came when the police picked up Shri Bhagwan on July 23, 2002
The senior IPS officer surrendered in an Ambala court on September 27, 2002

NEW DELHI: While the trial in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case finally ended in conviction of suspended IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma and three others on Tuesday, the case saw many ups and downs over the nine long years.

Following the sensational murder in an East Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999, the Delhi police could not make much headway in the investigations for a long time. Prime suspect R. K. Sharma, an IPS officer of Haryana cadre who was then posted with Air India in Mumbai, was subjected to a lie detector test and also questioned a couple of times, but nothing substantial came of it.

Over the next three years, investigations remained in a limbo. The breakthrough came when the police picked up Shri Bhagwan on July 23, 2002, for questioning in a case. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to having been involved in Shivani’s murder. Subsequently the police arrested Pradeep, Satya Prakash, Ved Prakash and Ved alias Kalu. They purportedly revealed the entire plot and named Sharma as the main conspirator.

As the police mounted raids to arrest him, the elusive IPS officer, who by then had then become Inspector-General (Prisons) of Haryana, proceeded on leave. While continuing to evade arrest, he tried to get reprieve from the courts. He filed an anticipatory bail plea in a Haryana court, but the plea was rejected and the court directed him to approach a court in Delhi as the crime in which he was wanted had occurred in the Capital.

Sharma approached a Delhi court, too, but his bail plea was rejected. He then approached the Delhi High Court which, too, rejected his bail plea. The order came a few days after the Supreme Court ruled that an absconder could not be granted anticipatory bail in another case.

As Sharma was declared absconder, the Delhi police initiated the proceedings for attaching Sharma’s property.

Around the same time, R. K. Sharma’s wife Madhu alleged that the then Union Information & Broadcasting Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan was involved in the murder. Mr. Mahajan vehemently denied any role in the incident and threatened to sue Madhu Sharma for defamation. The police too gave a clean chit to him.

Finally, amid shrinking legal avenues and mounting police pressure, the senior IPS officer surrendered in an Ambala court on September 27, 2002. He was subsequently brought to Delhi.

During trial, the prosecution produced 209 witnesses before the court of which 51 had turned hostile.

Statements

Sharma also moved the court seeking access to the contents of the case diary which, according to him, contained certain statements of Shivani’s journalist husband Rakesh Bhatnagar which could help him in preparing his defence better. The trial court allowed a copy of the summary of statements made by Mr. Bhatnagar to be given to the accused, but not the observations made by the Investigating Officer.

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