Manu Sharma, Jessica Lal's murder convict, walks out of jail after 14 years on the grounds of ‘good behaviour’

• In 1999, Siddharth Vasisht, also known as Manu Sharma, murdered Jessica Lal with a 0.22 calibre pistol at a restaurant in Mehrauli after she refused to serve alcohol past midnight.
  
• Manu Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was sentenced to life for killing Lal.
  
• The trial court had acquitted him, but the Delji high court reversed the verdict on convicted him.
  
  

Manu Sharma, the convict in 1999 Jessica Lal murder case, was released early from Tihar Jail after 14 years on the grounds of “good behaviour.”

In 1999, Siddharth Vasisht, also known as Manu Sharma, murdered Jessica Lal with a 0.22 calibre pistol at a private party in a restaurant in Mehrauli after she refused to serve him alcohol past midnight.

Manu Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was sentenced to life for killing Lal. The trial court had acquitted him, but the Delhi High court reversed the verdict on convicted him. In April 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of life imprisonment.

However, today (May 22) Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal accepted the recommendation of premature release made by Delhi government’s sentence review board.

His premature release has been discussed several times since 2017. Two years ago, Lal’s sister Sabrina Lal also said she has no problem with Sharma's release. However, SRB rejected all of them.

Sharma was out on parole since the first week of April as part of measures to decongest jails and ensure social distancing. Even though Sharma was serving a life sentence, he had been on parole at least 10 times in the last 16 years. He was also shifted to an open jail — which allows prisoners to walk out in the morning and come back in the evening — in 2017.

Apart from Sharma, SRB has decided to grant premature release to 21 criminals.

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