Killer of Jessica Lal, Manu Sharma, has been freed after his life term was remitted on Monday. The case which was famous with the name ‘Jessica Lal Murder Case’ had remained a hot topic of discussion and also a major topic for political debates in the early 2000s.
Sharma was released along with 18 other prisoners from Delhi’s Tihar jail.
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has allowed the release of Manu Sharma on the recommendations of the Sentence Review Board.
The seven-member SRB team met on Monday was to decide on the release of 34 convicts who are eligible for early release.
Manu Sharma was serving a life term after being convicted of the murder of model Jessica Lal in 1999.
He had shot Jessica Lal after she refused to serve her drink at a party.
According to the law, any convict, barring one found guilty of heinous crimes such as rape and murder, murder and robbery, murder in cases of terrorism and murder while out on parole, who has completed 14 years in prison without remission is eligible for early release.
Last year in November, Manu Sharma’s lawyer Amit Sahni had approached the Delhi high court seeking his release.
In his plea, he said that despite spending 23 years in jail, and a record of good conduct in prison, the SRB denied his client’s release on four separate occasions in an unfair and unlawful manner.
Further, the Delhi high court asked the board to consider Sharma’s case for release in its next board meeting, which took place on May 11.
The most discussed murder case of independent India is of April 30, 1999. Siddharth Vashishta, better known as Manu Sharma, shot dead model Jessica Lal at a private party after she refused to serve liquor to him as it was well past midnight.
The case became a sensation as Manu Sharma is the son of Haryana politician and former union minister Vinod Sharma.
A trial court had acquitted Manu Sharma but the High Court had reversed the decision and sentenced him to life term. The High Court took the case after nationwide protests and outrage.
In the past two years, he had been in an open jail on account of ‘good conduct’. He was allowed to leave the prison for work at 8 am and return at 6 pm. Manu Sharma worked with a non-profit for the rehabilitation of prisoners.