Former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma’s love for his wife Naina Sahni strengthened the case against him, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.
The court, while commuting the death sentence of Sharma to life imprisonment, said the evidence on record showed that he was extremely possessive of his wife and murdered her as he suspected her fidelity.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam turned down Sharma’s plea that he could not have killed his wife as he was deeply in love with her.
“In our opinion, the appellant’s love for the deceased does not dilute the prosecution case on motive. In fact, it strengthens it,” the bench said. “It appears that the appellant was extremely possessive of the deceased. The evidence on record shows that the appellant suspected her fidelity and the murder was the result of this possessiveness,” the bench said.
The court noted that even after getting married to Sharma, Ms. Sahni was still in touch with one Matloob Karim with whom she had an affair before the marriage, which resulted in strained relationship between the couple. “The evidence on record establishes that they were living together and were married but unfortunately, it appears that the deceased was still in touch with Matloob Karim,” the bench said.
