New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court will decide today on whether a former senior police officer was responsible for the murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar in 1999. (
Read: Timeline: Shivani Bhatnagar murder case)
Ravi Kant Sharma, a senior police officer who at one time worked in the Prime Minister's Office, has appealed against the verdict of a Delhi court that found him guilty in March 2008 of murdering Ms Bhatnagar. The judge had found that Mr Sharma hired hitmen to murder Ms Bhatnagar because he was worried she would go public with details of their relationship. The same judge said that the former police officer did not deserve the death penalty because of his "excellent" service record. The judge commented, "Except for the crime in question, he (Sharma) is an asset to this nation."
Mr Sharma has challenged his conviction.
Ms Bhatnagar, a senior journalist with the newspaper
The Indian Express, was murdered in her East Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999. Her young son was with her when she died. She had reportedly met Mr Sharma while covering the Prime Minister's Office.
Mr Sharma's lawyer has argued that the evidence against him is largely circumstantial, and has been tampered with by the Delhi Police to implicate the former police officer. The police, on the other hand, contends that Mr Sharma used his senior position to influence witnesses and to try and extricate himself from the case.