The Supreme Court has given the much-needed relief to former Youth Congress leader Sushil Kumar Sharma by commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment in the infamous Naina Sahni tandoor murder case.

Sushil Sharma had challenged his conviction and death sentence given by the lower court and upheld by the Delhi High Court. He argued that the case did not fall in the ‘rarest of rare’ category, which warrants a death sentence.

Naina Sahni, the wife of Sushil Sharma, was believed to have an illicit relationship with her old friend Matloob Karim. On the night of July 2, 1995, Sushil shot her dead and chopped her body into several pieces before stuffing those in the clay oven of Bagiya Restaurant in New Delhi.

Sushil Sharma has already spend almost 18 years in jail in the ‘tandoor case’. The apex court observed the whatever Sushil Sharma did, was not a crime against society, but a crime committed due to his strained relationship with his wife, which did not fall in the ‘rarest of rare’ category. The court also took cognizance of the fact that Sushil was a first-time offender. The Supreme Court also allowed the Delhi Government to release Sushil Sharma if it wishes so.