Jessica Lal murder convict Manu Sharma released from Jail

Manu Sharma, who shot dead model Jessica Lal in April 1999 after she refused to serve him a drink in a bar, walked out free from Tihar Jail after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal signed the order to release him on a recommendation from the Sentence Review Board (SRB).

Sharma (43), a life convict who is the son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was out on parole as part of Tihar Jail's decongestion plan during the COVID-19 season and authorities cleared his release on Monday.

Along with Sharma, Baijal has also accepted the recommendation of the SRB to release 18 other prisoners.

Baijal's decision came after the SRB headed by Delhi Home Minister Satyender Jain last month cleared the proposal taking into account the conduct of the convicts in prison. Sharma has been in an open jail for the past two years on account of "good conduct" and was working with a non-profit organisation for the rehabilitation of prisoners.

According to law, any convict barring those found guilty of rape and murder, murder and robbery, murder in terrorism cases and murder while out on parole and those who have completed 14 years in prison without remission are eligible for early release.

The Jessica Lal murder case had hit headlines after a lower court first acquitted him in 2006, prompting protests and even a film Rani Mukherjee-starrer 'No One Killed Jessica'. However within months, Delhi High Court had overturned the local court verdict, which was upheld by Supreme Court in 2010.

Lal was murdered in the wee hours of April 30, 1999 at a party in Tamarind Court restaurant in Delhi owned by socialite Bina Ramani. She had refused to serve him drink as the bar had closed. He had first fired in air and when she continued to refuse to serve him, he opened fire at her.

Earlier in 2018, her younger sister Sabrina Lal had said she had forgiven Sharma and would not object to freeing him from jail and repeated it last month when the news of the SRB recommendation became public. "I truly believe he has been doing good work in jail...it's a load off my chest and I feel at peace with myself," Sabrina told NDTV in 2018.

Sharma's earlier attempt for release had not met with success as the SRB had rejected it several times till 2017.

In 2009, Sharma was out on parole on the pretext of taking of his sick mother but landed in a controversy after he was spotted in a night club in Delhi and entered into a brawl along with his friend. While his friend was detained, Sharma had managed to give police a slip following which his parole was cancelled two weeks before it expired.