New Delhi, July 31: Senior IPS officer R K Sharma, facing trial in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case, today alleged that prosecution was deliberately delaying summoning of key witnesses including her husband Rakesh Bhatnagar and brother-in-law B S Bhatnagar with a view to prejudice his case. "The prosecution is deliberately not producing/summoning these witnesses so as to cause prejudice to the defence of the accused in the matter of cross examination of other witnesses," Sharma said in his application before additional sessions judge J M Malik.

"The accused while cross-examining the other witnesses will have to completely disclose his defence on issues which are connected with the evidence of these two witnesses," he submitted and prayed that they be summoned without further delay.
Rakesh and B S Bhatnagar are important material witnesses whose evidence is essential to the unfolding of the narrative on which the prosecution is based, Sharma said.

While Rakesh could explain the facts prior and subsequent to the incident that occurred on January 23, 1999, Bhatnagar was the first person to notice the crime, he claimed.
By delaying their examination, prosecution also wanted to prejudice and frustrate his bail plea by taking the ground that these witnesses still needed to be examined, Sharma alleged.

The application will now come up for hearing on August 7.
Bureau Report