Manu Sharma convicted in Jessica Lall murder case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court held Manu Sharma, son of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma, guilty of the murder of model Jessica Lall on Monday.

The court also found co-accused Amardeep Singh Gill ‘Tony’ and Vikas Yadav guilty of destroying evidence. Yadav, son of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav, is also accused in the Nitish Katara murder case.

Pronouncing the verdict, a bench comprising Justice RS Sodhi and Justice PK Bhasin said, “We have no hesitation in reaching the conclusion that Siddharth Vashisht alias Manu Sharma is guilty under section 302 of the IPC and section 26 of the Arms Act.”

The high court acquitted six others. The sentences of the convicts will be decided tomorrow.

Jessica Lall was shot dead in the early hours of April 30, 1999, at the Tamarind Court, a restaurant owned by Bina Ramani, when she refused to serve Sharma liquor. Ramani emerged as a crucial witness for the prosecution, with the court taking cognisance of her identification of the accused.

On Monday, hundreds gathered outside the high court for the decision.  

A trial court had earlier acquitted all the nine accused, but the case was reopened when police challenged the acquittal after a public outcry.

Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lall, who has doggedly fought her case, was not present. Her friend Nalini and elder sister Valsa were at the court. As soon as the verdict was pronounced, Nalini called Sabrina to say: “We’ve got justice, sweetie. It’s in our favour.”

Valsa told DNA, “We always had faith in the system. We’re extremely happy and thank everyone who has supported us in the fight for justice.”

Nitish Katara’s mother Neelam was also present in court with Indu Jalali, a friend of Priyadarshini Mattoo, who was raped and killed in 1996. Her killer, Santosh Singh, has been sentenced to death by the same bench.

“Priya’s case set the trend,” said Jalali. “We had full faith that Jessica would also be given justice.”

But he may escape death penalty

Rakesh Bhatnagar

Manu Sharma is unlikely to get the death sentence as the case may not qualify in the ‘rarest of rare’ category. Justice RS Sodhi and Justice PK Bhasin, who convicted Sharma, had awarded the death penalty to Priyadarshini Mattoo’s killer Santosh Singh.

But unlike in Mattoo’s case, Sharma’s lawyers could argue that his was not a ‘premeditated’ crime, but one committed in a fit of anger after he was denied whisky.

The other mitigating factor could be that Sharma is young and has no criminal record. Nor did he stand to gain from Lall’s death.

But a senior prosecutor said that “such crimes by the rich and powerful must be viewed rather seriously.”