Jessica Lal Murder Case: Manu Sharma released from Delhi Prison

New Delhi : Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday approved the release of Manu Sharma, convicted for the murder of model Jessica Lal in 1999. Soon after the approval came, Manu Sharma was released from Tihar Jail.

Baijal had accepted the recommendation of the Sentence Review Board (SRB) which met last month.

The seven-member SRB discussed the release of 32 prisoners, including Manu Sharma, who were eligible for the release.

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.

In November 2019, his lawyer had approached the Delhi High Court with a plea seeking his early release as he had been inside jail for 23 years and has a record of good conduct in prison.

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.

Siddharth Vashishta, 43, better known by his alias Manu Sharma, shot dead model Jessica Lal, who was tending an unlicensed bar at a private party on April 30, 1999, after she refused to serve him a drink well past midnight. He is the son of Haryana politician Venod Sharma.