The Supreme Court on Monday brought down the curtain on the much-publicised Jessica Lall murder case, confirming the conviction and life sentence awarded to Sidhartha Vashisht alias Manu Sharma, son of a former Haryana minister, for the horrific 1999 shooting at point-blank range of an upcoming model at a South Delhi restaurant.
The case, which saw several ups and downs with the trial court setting Manu free in December 2006, got finality on Monday with a bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and Swatanter Kumar finding no illegality in the 2007 verdict of the Delhi High Court setting aside the trial judge’s acquittal order and sending the accused to jail to serve a life sentence.
Manu has been in jail since 2007 and had remained in judicial custody for nearly three years during trial before being released on bail. He altogether has already served jail time of six years. Since the HC order did not specify, a life term would normally mean 14 years actually spent behind bars, after which a convict would be entitled to assessment of his conduct during imprisonment to claim release.
The Supreme Court also upheld the conviction of two of Manu’s friends — Vikas Yadav, son of former Rajya Sabha MP Mr D.P. Yadav, now a BSP leader; and Amandeep Singh Gill, an MNC executive — for helping Manu to destroy evidence. Both were sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by the HC.
The Supreme Court also took into account the “conduct” of Manu Sharma immediately after the crime, saying “it proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
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