Manu Sharma was sentenced for shooting Jessica Lal at a party after refusing to serve her a drink.
New Delhi:
Jessica Lal’s killer Manu Sharma, who was serving a life sentence in one of the country’s most high-profile crimes, was released early from prison. He was released on Monday with 18 other prisoners from Delhi’s Tihar prison.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the decision after a recommendation from the Delhi Review Review Board, which is a ministry of the Delhi government. The board made the recommendation last month at a meeting chaired by Delhi’s interior minister Satyendar Jain.
Manu Sharma, who spent less than 16 years in prison, was released on parole as part of prison efforts to prevent overcrowding in the coronavirus crisis.
The son of former union minister Venod Sharma, Manu Sharma, was convicted in 2006 for shooting model Jessica Lal after she refused to drink him a drink on April 30, 1999 Tamarind Court restaurant in Delhi owned by socialist Bina Ramani.
A trial court acquitted him of the murder, but the High Court, which seized the case amid national scandals and protests, overturned the decision and sentenced him to life in prison . The Supreme Court confirmed the sentence in 2010.
For the past two years, Manu Sharma has been in open prison for “good behavior”; he was allowed to leave prison to work at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Manu Sharma, aka Sidharth Vashishta, worked with a non-profit organization for the rehabilitation of prisoners.
In 2018, Jessica Lal’s younger sister, Sabrina Lal, said she had forgiven Manu Sharma and would not oppose his release. “I really believe he did a good job in prison … it’s a load on my chest and I feel at peace with myself,” Sabrina Lal told GalacticGaming. “Her conviction was a closure for me,” she said.
The sensational crime inspired a film and came to symbolize the deep flaws in the system that allowed those with money and influence to abuse the law and get away with murder.
