"Accused R K Sharma, Sri Bhagwan Sharma and Satya Prakash get the benefit of doubt. We, however, uphold the conviction of Pradeep Sharma in the case," said a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Manmohan Singh, deciding the appeals by the four against their conviction and sentence in the murder case.
Shivani Bhatnager was killed in her Navkunj Apartment flat at I P Extension in East Delhi on January 23, 1999. The lower court had on March 24, 2008, convicted four persons including R K Sharma, who had once served as officer on special duty in the Prime Minister`s office. The trial court, however, had acquitted co-accused Dev Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu in the case. The high court in its decision acquitted three out of four convicts including the former IPS officer.