By IANS,
New Delhi : Delhi High court Tuesday issued notice to Delhi Police on an appeal by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer R.K. Sharma challenging his conviction for the murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar.
A division bench of Justices Vikramjit Sen and Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notice to Delhi Police and sought reply by May 28.
Sharma challenged his life imprisonment Monday saying there were several missing links in the chain of circumstances.
Indian Express journalist Bhatnagar was murdered in her Navkunj Apartments flat at I.P. Extension in East Delhi Jan 23, 1999.
The prosecution had in the trial court alleged that Sharma had provided certain classified documents to Bhatnagar that had led to her murder by the former as the journalist wanted to make the documents public against his wishes, the appeal stated. But the trial court had dismissed this contention by the prosecution.
However, the court had upheld the prosecution’s allegation that there was an illicit relationship between Sharma and Bhatnagar for which no evidence was placed on record, the officer’s appeal stated.
Sharma submitted that the call details of the convicts – Sharma himself, Sri Bhagwan, Pradeep Sharma and Satya Prakash – were fabricated.
Pradeep Sharma has already filed an appeal against his conviction and the court has admitted the appeal.
A city court had sentenced the four to life imprisonment last month.