IPS officer R K Sharma files appeal in HC

New Delhi (PTI): IPS officer R K Sharma, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Shivani Bhatnagar case,on Monday filed an appeal before the Delhi High Court challenging his conviction in the trial court.
Sharma, the suspended Inspector General of Haryana Police, along with three others were sentenced to life term by a city court on March 24 for killing Indian Express journalist Shivani on January 23, 1999 while she was alone with her two-month-old son in her East Delhi residence.
Filing the appeal through his counsel Sushil Bajaj, Sharma contended that the trial court had ignored certain evidence which supported him in the case.
Claiming that the appreciation of evidence could have led to his acquittal in the case, Sharma said as per the medical report, Shivani died at 1.30 pm but the trial judge believed the prosecution claim that she died between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm on the day of incident.
The IPS officer further claimed in his appeal that the telephone records which were produced as evidence against him by the prosecution during the trial were not admissible in the court of law.
The trial judge in his verdict had said that Sharma had conspired with three others to eliminate Shivani as he wanted to walk out of his "intimate" relationship with her, something that prompted her to threaten him.
Sharma is the second convict to move High Court against the trial court's decision. Last week, another convict Pradeep Sharma, an alleged hired killer, had filed an appeal on which the High Court has issued notice to police.
Monday, April 28, 2008
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