The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (15 September) released on parole former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma, convicted for the murder of his wife Naina Sahni and disposing of her body in a restaurant tandoor (clay oven), observing that he has been in jail for over 20 years. Justice Siddharth Mridul of Delhi High Court ordered Sharma’s release without imposing any condition and said that till his plea seeking remission and premature release is decided by the competent authority, he will remain out of jail.
During the hearing, the Delhi government told the court that the sentence review board has already taken the decision and now the final order has to be passed by the Lt. Governor. Sharma had moved the high court saying he has already spent 20 years in jail and was entitled to premature release in accordance with the guidelines of the sentence review board.
He sought directions to the Lt. Governor and the Delhi government to expeditiously consider his plea for premature release from jail. Popularly known as the ‘Tandoor murder case’, the Supreme Court in October 2013 commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to Sushil Sharma.
Suspecting his wife of infidelity, Sharma in a fit of rage shot her dead at their residence in Gole Market in New Delhi area on July 2, 1995. He then cut her body into pieces, stuffed it into a gunny bag and took it the open-air Bagiya Restaurant inside the erstwhile Ashok Yatri Niwas hotel and tried to burn it in the tandoor with the help of his friend and restaurant manager.
