Jessica Lal Murder Case: Delhi LG Approves Premature Release Of Convict Manu Sharma

Sources close to the development told news agency PTI that the recommendation was made at a meeting of the SRB chaired by Delhi Home Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain on May 11.

Manu Sharma was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal on Tuesday approved the early release of Manu Sharma, the convict in 1999 Jessica Lal Murder case, after Sentence Review Board recommendation. (SRB). Currently Sharma is serving life imprisonment. As per initial reports,  SRB which comes under the Delhi government had recommended Sharma's premature release last month. Sources close to the development told news agency PTI that the recommendation was made at a meeting of the SRB chaired by Delhi Home Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain on May 11. Sharma, son of former Union minister Venod Sharma, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006 for killing Jessica Lal in 1999. A trial court had acquitted him, but the high court reversed the order and the Supreme Court later upheld his life sentence in April 2010. Lal was shot dead by Sharma after she had refused to serve him liquor at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in south Delhi's Mehrauli area on the night of April 30, 1999.

In February, Delhi High Court had sought Delhi government's response on the 1999 Jessica Lal murder case convict Manu Sharma's plea for pre-mature release. Sharma has sought setting aside of the September 19, 2019 order as the designated authority had accepted the July 19, 2019 recommendations of the SRB rejecting his plea. As per records, Sharma sought release saying the authorities rejected his plea in an unfair, arbitrary and whimsical manner. Sharma also claimed that he was being victimised by the state and despite having undergone 23 years (with remission) in jail. His case had been rejected four times. Sharma also claimed to have received appreciations for his works through the Siddhartha Vashishtha Charitable Trust, his NGO.