Sushil Sharma's death sentence commuted

Eighteen years after he murdered his wife and burnt her body in a tandoor, the Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted the death penalty awarded to former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma to life imprisonment, in a case that had sent shock waves across the nation.

Sharma was given as lesser sentence by the apex court, since he did not have any criminal antecedents before the crime and because the murder was committed because of a strained-personal relationship.

While granting relief to Sharma, the bench noted mitigating factors such as, no family members of the victim deposed against him, that he was very remorseful over his wife’s death and that he cannot be considered a threat to society.

Sharma had murdered his wife Naina Sahni on the suspicion that she was having an extramarital affair. He then cut her body into pieces which he burned in a clay oven of the then government-owned hotel Ashok Yatri Niwas.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam allowed Sharma’s appeal, challenging the order of trial court which had awarded him a death sentence, which was subsequently upheld by the Delhi High Court.