Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar Shastri found no substance in the prosecution’s contention that was touted as the motive behind the murder and said it was only Sharma’s personal problems with Shivani that had impelled him to eliminate her.

The court accepted that the two shared an “intimate” relationship and observed that the “sensitive documents”, talked about by the prosecution throughout the trial, apparently had no role in the conspiracy.

The chargesheet filed after over three years of probe into the murder had presented a clear-cut motive. It had stated: “R K Sharma wanted to eliminate Shivani fearing that she would spoil his career, social status, his married life and also expose his involvement in pilferage and passing on of secret/classified documents to her.”

Claiming that Sharma had supplied some documents to Shivani for her news reports, the chargesheet had further averred that some of the impugned documents were also recovered from her house after her murder on January 23, 1999.

Word of praise for Sharma
The court commended the conduct of suspended IPS officer R K Sharma during the protracted trial. The over-100 page judgment finds words of praise for Sharma for not attempting to delay the trial by trying to get adjournments on frivolous grounds. The ASJ praised Sharma for his propriety and control during the hearings in the nine-year-old case. Sharma cooperated with the court and the prosecution and also maintained the decorum of the courtroom, the ASJ said in the judgment. The court also praised the other accused for their good behaviour, due to which no unruly scenes were ever witnessed during the trial, noted the ASJ.