The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the death penalty awarded to Sushil Sharma, former Youth Congress leader, in the sensational Naina Sahani murder case.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of the erstwhile Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma, for slaughtering his wife Naina Sahni and roasting her remains in a ‘tandoor’ (clay oven) in the guise of burning the party flags 12 years ago. Sharma had suspected her fidelity.
Terming the manner of murder and its motive as an “abhorrent act”, Justices RS Sodhi and PK Bhasin observed that: “As a leader of youth (Congress), Sushil Sharma should have courage in some other field instead of butchery.”
The HC held that the case was “the rarest of rare” and upheld the death sentence slapped by Sessions court.
The accused had sought the quashing of the conviction while the state’s counsel Mukta Gupta had pleaded for confirmation of the extreme penalty. In their verdict, the judges stated: “The case has shaken our conscience too. In case the death penalty is not awarded to Sharma it would be a mockery of justice and conscience of the society would be shocked,” the HC said.
Sushil, the youth wing leader, had a live-in relationship with Naina, who was also a youth wing activist. He was postponing marriage since he thought it would hamper his image and career as the youth wing leader. They eventually got married, but it was kept under wraps. However, discord started when Sharma suspected Naina of having an affair with her classmate and fellow Congress worker Matloob Karim. This led to domestic violence, police alleged.
On July 2, when Sharma reached his flat at Mandir Marg, he saw Naina talking on the phone. On seeing him, she put down the receiver. Sharma re-dialed the number to find Karim on the other end. An incensed Sharma then fired three shots at Naina. One bullet pierced her head, another hit her in the neck while the third missed her and hit an air-conditioner. Naina died on the spot. Sharma wrapped her body, took it to the restaurant, chopped it into small pieces and tried to burn it in the tandoor.
That night, Sharma stayed with his IAS officer friend DK Rao at Gujarat Bhavan and left for Jaipur the next day. With the police on his trail, he then went to Mumbai and later Chennai.
Sharma, who was absconding for a long time, secured the pre-arrest bail. There was a public outcry against the Youth Congress activists’ involvement in what came to be known as the ‘Tandoor Murder Case’. Sessions court Judge GP Thareja condemned him to death in 2003.
Sharma’s father Indu Mani Sharma had appealed for his son’s life on the basis that Sushil was the only child of ailing parents and that he had shown exemplary conduct in jail. Mani Sharma also added that there were no other cases pending against him.
Currently, reciting from the Holy Gita to other Tihar Jail inmates, Sushil Sharma had sought life term saying he “was dying every day” due to the slow disposal of his appeal. “The long pendency of a matter by itself can’t justify lesser sentence,” observed the SC. The judges described the accused a “high on power” and as one who thought “being a leader of the youth (Congress) he was all powerful.”
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