Shivani murder case: Defence collapsed on diversionary tactics

Thu, Mar 20 01:45 AM

IPS OFFICER R.K. Sharma's defence virtually collapsed the moment the court rejected his attempts to implicate slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and Shivani's husband in the murder. Sharma's wife Madhu had alleged the BJP leader had a love affair with the journalist and had even spoken to her for 45 minutes on the day of the murder on January 23, 1999.

Reacting to the allegations made a month before Sharma's arrest, Mahajan had refuted them and said he shared a purely professional relationship with her. Mahajan also said he was prepared for a lie-detector test as demanded by Madhu.

But after Sharma's interrogation for six days, police gave a clean chit to Mahajan, which has now been endorsed by the court. Additional Sessions Judge Rajendra Kumar Shastri also blasted the defence for indulging in character assassination of the journalist.

No help from case diary The conviction also meant that the court found nothing in favour of Sharma in the case diary also. Sharma had sought access to the diary on the plea it contained information, which could help him defend himself better.

This demand for copies of the case diary first surfaced during the examination of one of the prosecution witnesses, inspector Sukhvinder, on March 6, 2006. The defence believed the case diary in Shivani case contained key observations made by the then investigation officer against Shivani's husband and gaining access to it could help Sharma punch holes in the prosecution's case and prepare a foolproof defence.

The defence and the prosecution was engaged in a bitter battle all the way up to the Supreme Court and even the trial had virtually come to a halt during the period. Sharma's lawyers said it was the accused's right to defend himself and have access to the case diary, claiming lack of access to her husband's statements was hampering his case.

The prosecution argued that supply of the copies was not mandatory and they were only to be shared with the court. They dubbed it as an attempt by Sharma to prolong the trial.

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