Tandoor murder case: HC release Sushil Sharma on parole

New Delhi: Former youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma, who is undergoing life term in the sensational murder case of his wife Naina Sahni, was on Wednesday granted three weeks parole by the Delhi High Court.

Justice Vipin Sanghi released Sharma on parole, enabling him to take care of his ailing parents. The convict had sought parole for six months.

The convict in his plea filed through advocate Amit Sahni had also challenged November 28 last year's order of the Delhi government rejecting his application for regular parole.

In his application, he claimed that his plea for regular parole was rejected by the Delhi government on "false and fictitious" ground and the authorities did not appreciate the fact that he was eligible for grant of parole.

Sharma had said his parole application should have been allowed by the authorities "considering the health and age of his parents" as he is the only son to look after them and has never misused the concession of parole or furlough granted to him earlier.

The convict had shot his wife Naina with his licensed revolver on the night of July 2, 1995, taken her body to a restaurant, chopped it into pieces and tried to burn them in the restaurant's oven, leading the case to be popularly called 'Tandoor murder case'.

The Supreme Court had commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty awarded to Sharma by a trial court in 2003 and upheld by the High Court in 2007, saying the murder was the outcome of "strained personal relationship" and the convict was "not a confirmed criminal".

While reducing the sentence awarded to him, the apex court had said that "life sentence is for the whole of remaining life of Sharma subject to remission granted by the appropriate government under the Code of Criminal Procedure."