Rabbits In The Hat?

The legal battle in the Shivani murder case will in all likelihood be mired in controversy. According to police sources, some more high-profile politicians and bureaucrats will be dragged into the case by R.K. Sharma.

Initially, it was Union communications minister Pramod Mahajan who was being linked to the case by Sharma's family, allegedly due to his close association with Shivani. But now police sources claim more names may follow. It is learnt that Sharma has named some top politicians during his interrogation. These apparently include more than one Union cabinet minister, a chief minister of a non-bjp ruled state, as also other senior politicians and bureaucrats. Sharma's plea to the police was that if he could be interrogated on the basis of his association with Shivani, then why not question the others who also knew her well.

Sharma's counsel have told the court that though their client revealed the names of the politicians and expressed his willingness to give a signed statement, the police refused to take it on record. In fact, the lawyers have alleged that the police suppressed "vital leads" provided by Sharma. The counsel said that the police threatened Sharma with dire consequences if he even mentioned the names of the politicians.

The police, officially, deny that Sharma named any politician during the interrogation. However, investigating officials privately admit that Sharma did take some names. They are of the opinion that Sharma named politicians primarily to divert the focus of the investigations and that the names thrown up by him were nowhere linked to the case.

But Sharma's lawyers insist the politicians will have to be questioned and that the names will be revealed in court. Sharma's plea that the police had suppressed the names of the politicians will come up for hearing soon. However, Sharma's counsel have refused to divulge any names so far.