Taking a strong exception to the stand taken by a senior police officer, who had favoured parole to former Youth Congress leader Sushil Sharma, sentenced to death for killing his wife Naina Sahani, Justice Hima Kohli of the Delhi high court has directed the Delhi police commissioner to conduct a probe against some department officials for misleading the court on the issue.
The court directed the police to probe the matter after hearing that earlier the Delhi government had rejected the parole plea of Sharma.
Referring to the noting in the status report filed by the ACP, New Delhi, that there is no possibility of Sharma jumping the parole, Justice Kohli said, “It is quite apparent that all is not well within the department and the letter dated April 5 has been tailor-made.”
Seeking an action taken report within six weeks, the court said, “In the face of negative report of GNCT of Delhi, the court has expressed its surprise and directed the counsel for state to inform the court as to the basis on which the observation was made by the ACP.”
Sharma’s plea for parole was rejected by the lieutenant-general in June. He had then approached the Delhi HC challenging the rejection.
Pursuing the court’s notice, the police had last month filed a status report and annexed the file noting of the ACP to the Tihar Jail superintendent with an observation that there was no possibility of the convict jumping parole.
The court order came while granting a seven-hour custody parole to Sharma to attend to his ailing mother. Sharma was allowed to visit his mother in police custody between 10 am and 5 pm a week before her angiography was done at the Jaipur Golden Hospital.