INVC,
Delhi,
Supreme Court Tuesday mitigate the capital punishment of former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma – convicted in brutally murder his wife Naina Sahni and attempting to dispose off her body in a tandoor (clay oven) – into life imprisonment stating that this was not a crime against society but the result of strained personal relationship. Hearing the petition of Sushil Sharma, an apex court bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice Ranjan Gogoi Tuesday in the rarest of the rare murder case commuted the death sentence into imprisonment until Sushil’s last breath. Pronouncing the quantum of punishment, SC said that the prosecution had proven the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The court recounted the sequence of events leading to the murder of Naina Sahni and the attempt to dispose off her body by burning it in a tandoor of the Bagiya restaurant in a then government-owned hotel. The chain of events would indicate that the accused and the accused alone had committed the brutal murder, the court said. “It is not a crime against society, but it is a crime committed by the accused due to strained personal relationship with his wife,” said Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, pronouncing the judgment on behalf of the bench. The court further said this was a mitigating factor for commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment. Sharma’s life imprisonment would be for the rest of the life, the court said, adding it would be subject to the powers of the appropriate authority to grant remission in accordance with the law. Nearly two decades ago on the night of July 2, 1995, in the open-air restaurant of a Delhi five-star hotel, a body was being burned in a tandoor. If it wasn’t for Delhi police constable Abdul Nazir Kunju and Home Guard Chanderpal, it would have been the perfect escape, but their alertness helped expose a murder plot so foul that it sent shockwaves through the capital’s power circle. Abdul Nazir and Chanderpal saw smoke rising from Bagiya Restaurant in Ashok Yatri Nivas and decided to check, suspecting a fire. What they found instead, was the body of 29-year-old Naina Sahni, wife of then Delhi Youth Congress President Sushil Sharma. The restaurant manager, Keshav Kumar who claimed he was burning old Congress banners, was arrested but Sharma managed to flee. Sushil Sharma suspected his wife of having an affair with Matloob Karim, her classmate and fellow Congress worker. The marriage was already strained as Sharma wanted to keep it a secret owing to his political ambitions, something that irked Sahni. As their relationship deteriorated, police allege, Sharma became violent towards his wife. On the day of murder, Sushil Sharma reached his Mandir Marg flat to find Naina Sahni deep in conversation with somebody on the phone. Suspicious, Sharma redialled the number after she ended her call and found that it was Matloob Karim that she was talking to. Enraged Sharma took out his licenced revolver and shot Naina Sahni thrice, hitting her in the neck and head. The third shot missed her and hit the wall. Sahni died on the spot. Sharma then wrapped her body in a blanket and took it to the restaurant where he chopped it into small pieces and stuffed it into the tandoor. Sharma then tried to burn the body in the clay oven but when police came Sharma escaped the restaurant that he was running on lease, and hid at Gujarat Bhavan. The next day he escaped to Jaipur, and from there he went to Mumbai and Chennai. It was in Bangalore that Sharma finally surrendered on July 10, pleading innocence. He was sentenced to death on Nov 7, 2003 by the trial court. The high court on February 19, 2007 confirmed the death penalty awarded to him saying the offence was an act of extreme depravity that shook the conscience of the society.
