Jessica Lal killer Manu Sharma walks out of Tihar Jail after LG approves early release
Sharma, spent 16 years and 11 months in jail and was one of the 19 people released. His real name is Siddhartha Vashishta.
Sharma’s release was cleared because of “his good conduct” in jail and his “contribution in helping rehabilitate families of underprivileged prisoners”.
Sharma’s Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust has funded the education of more than 500 children of prisoners, and he also gave “lucrative business ideas” to promote the TJ’s (Tihar Jail’s) brand, helping the turnover rise from Rs 3 crore to Rs 20 crore annually, the source added, noting the factors considered by the board.
Manu Sharma, son of fomer Union Minister Venod Sharma was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006 for Lal’s murder in 1999. Lal, a model, was killed in cold blood on 30 April 1999 when she refused to serve liquor to Sharma and his friends after hours at an upscale Delhi restaurant.
The board, which is chaired by the Delhi home minister, also includes the director general (prisons), principal secretary (home), principal secretary (law), joint commissioner of police (crime), the government’s chief probation officer, and a district judge.
For the Sentence Review Board to consider a premature release, a jail inmate has to fulfil three broad criteria.
1) They must show “good conduct”.
2) They should have a police report recommending their release
3) A social investigation report, which talks about their chances of rehabilitation.