Will move SC against acquittal in Shivani murder case: Police

New Delhi, Oct 12: The city police will move the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court verdict acquitting former senior IPS officer RK Sharma and two others in journalist Shivani Bhatnagar murder case.

"We will go through the judgement and then proceed with the filing of appeal before the honourable Supreme Court," Delhi government's standing counsel Pawan Sharma told reporters here.

"The appeal of hired killer Pradeep Sharma was dismissed and his life imprisonment was upheld but the three other accused were acquitted, giving benefit of doubt to them," he said.

On the other hand, Abhijit Sharma, the son of Satya Prakash, who was acquitted by the high court, claimed his father was falsely implicated and their family was happy with the verdict.

"Justice was delayed but not denied to us. He was falsely implicated in the case. I was in standard eight when my father who had a property business was taken away. We (I and my sisters) had a tough time without parents. We were brought up by our maternal grandfather and are very happy today that our father will join us," Sharma said.

Shivani Bhatnager, a senior journalist with the Indian Express, was killed in her Navkunj Apartment flat at IP Extension in East Delhi on January 23, 1999.

A trial court had sentenced Sharma and the three to life imprisonment in March 2008.

The high court on Wednesday acquitted former senior IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma, Sri Bhagwan Sharma and Satya Prakash Sharma.

The court, however, upheld the conviction and life sentence of fourth accused Pradeep Sharma, the hitman who killed the scribe.

PTI