Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) Delhi high court Friday dismissed the bail plea of one of the four convicts serving life sentence for the 1999 murder of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar.
A division bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ajit Bharihoke rejected the bail application of Pradeep Sharma, saying it was devoid of merit.

In his plea, filed through advocate D.B. Goswami, the convict sought two months’ interim bail for getting his children admitted to a school. He claimed his presence was necessary for the admission.

The court, which had sought a report from the police, said bail cannot be granted on such grounds as the presence of one of the parents at the time of school admission was sufficient.

Last year, the court had granted bail to Sharma for two months to meet his son who was six months old at the time of his arrest.

Besides Sharma, senior Indian Police Services (IPS) officer R.K. Sharma and hired killers Sri Bhagwan and Satya Prakash were awarded rigorous life imprisonment March 24, 2008 by a lower court in the case.

The convicted IPS officer had plotted the murder as he wanted to get rid of the victim with whom he had developed intimate relations.

Shivani was found murdered in her east Delhi apartment Jan 23, 1999. She was at home alone with her infant son, when Pradeep came to the flat on the pretext of giving a wedding invitation and murdered her.

The convicts have challenged their conviction in Delhi high court.