Sharma was Raja's friend, Hindi tutor

Ravi Kant Sharma, the ex-IPS officer aquitted in Shivan Bhatnagar murder case, was known to be former telecom minister and co-Tihar inmate A Raja's close friend and was said to be tutoring him in Hindi. Abhishek Sharan reports.

He was known to be former telecom minister and co-inmate A Raja's close friend and was said to be tutoring him in Hindi. Raja, is currently in judicial custody after getting chargesheeted in the 2G scam.

Senior-IPS-officer-Ravi-Kant-Sharma-and-two-others-have-been-acquitted-by-the-Delhi-high-court-in-the-1999-Shivani-Bhatnagar-murder-case

Ravi Kant Sharma had donned many hats during his seven-year stay in the 15x10ft cell in sub-jail one, said jail sources. "Sharma stayed in a cell adjacent to that of Raja, who arrived here in February this year. The two became friends and Sharma even gave him basic lessons in Hindi," said a jail source.

Senior advocate Sushil Kumar, who represents both Sharma and Raja, confirmed their friendship, "Yes, Sharma and Raja had become friends. He played badminton with him too."

"As an undertrial, Sharma stayed in the jail between October 8, 2002 to February 13, 2006 and March 13, 2006 to March 24, 2008," said jail spokesperson Sunil Gupta.

Performing the role of a librarian in the sub-jail 1 library, he had sought a slew of answers from authorities including those of Tihar Jail through the RTI over issues related to grant of many facilities for inmates, like better phone facility, a revision of wages of convicts.

"Sharma also wrote to authorities about relaxing eligibility conditions for grant of parole," said the source.

Sharma is believed to have told a few co-inmates that he had been confident of getting justice as he was innocent, said the source. Conversant with the nuances of the Indian penal law, Sharma would at times give suggestions to other inmates on request.

Some jail officials however expressed "relief" on Sharma's release. "We were wary of him; he was unpredictable. Having procured bail, he had once insisted on getting released at midnight, something that had never happened before or after," said a source.