HC sentences Manu Sharma to life imprisonment in Jessica case

New Delhi, Dec 20 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today sentenced Manu Sharma, son of Haryana Congress leader Venod Sharma, to life imprisonment for shooting model Jessica Lall in a bar here on April 20, 1999 in ''a murder most foul.'' The court also sentenced Vikas Yadav, son of former Rajya Sabha member D P Yadav, and 'Tony' Gill, Manu's accomplices, to four years rigorous imprisonment for destruction of evidence in the case.

On Monday, a Division Bench of Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin had convicted Manu under sections 302 (culpable homicide amounting to murder) and section 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The division bench today heard the submissions of the respective lawyers of the accused.

Manu Sharma faced either death sentence or life imprisonment. His counsel RK Naseem was able to convince the judges that Manu deserved lenient punishment.

"The offence was committed in a heat of passion, unprovoked and unpremeditated. Manu was not a habitual criminal," said Naseem bringing about the court to this view.

Significantly, the state didn't oppose it. But lest it should be construed otherwise, state counsel Mukta Gupta was at pains not to appear lenient, treading a thin line between the death sentence and life imprisonment. She left it for the court to decide about the sentence for Manu.

The judges decided that the life imprisonment would leave open space for Manu Sharma to reform.

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