Jessica murder: SC upholds Manu Sharma's life term

New Delhi, Apr 19: Observing that the guilt of Manu Sharma, the prime accused in the Jessica Lal murder case, was proven beyond doubt, the Supreme Court on Monday, Apr 19 upheld the life sentence awarded to him by the Delhi High Court.

The accused had challenged the High Court's verdict in the Supreme Court. Ram Jethmalani, who was arguing the case for Manu Sharma alias Siddharth Vasisth, alleged that the Delhi HC had made up its mind to hold his client guilty.

The apex court also upheld the conviction of two other accused Vikas Yadav and Amarjeet Singh Gill. Yadav and Gill were found guilty of destroying the evidence and have been sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

Manu Sharma, the son of former Haryana minister Vinod Sharma, shot dead Jessica Lal in Apr 1999 for refusing to sell liquor to him at a south Delhi restaurant owned by Bina Ramani.

In Feb 2006, a trial court had acquitted Sharma. This ruling was later challenged in the Delhi Hich Court, which found the businessman with massive political backing guilty in Dec 2006.

The Jessica Lal murder case is among those cases which were followed up closely by the media, leading to many debates on trial by media. The Nitish Katara case is another such case.

OneIndia News