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The Delhi High Court Monday dismissed the bail plea of R K Sharma, suspended Haryana cadre IPS officer and a key accused in the Shivani Bahtnagar murder case.
Justice Ravinder Bhatt, who had on February 15 reserved the order after hearing the arguments on the bail petition of Sharma who is in jail following his surrender in 2002, rejected his application.
Seeking his release, Sharma had submitted that he had no criminal background and had been suffering from serious ailments, including spinal cord problem for which he underwent a surgery.
It was also argued that there was no chance of him influencing the witnesses as the trial court had already completed the recording of evidence with the examination of 209 witnesses.
Earlier, Sharma, in his statement before the trial court under section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which entitles an accused to get his version recorded, had accepted that Shivani was a family friend.
The trial court would continue to record Sharma's statement in the case on February 20, the next date of hearing.
Sharma alongwith five co-accused -- Pradeep Sharma, Satya Prakash, Ved Prakash Sharma, Ved alias Kalu and Sri Bhagwan -- are facing trial in the case. Bhatnagar was found murdered at her East Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999.
As per the prosecution, Sharma along with five accused had conspired to eliminate Shivani as he wanted to end the relationship.