Manu Sharma’s wife moves NHRC, seeks his release

NEWDELHI:TIHAR prisoner Manu Sharma alias Siddharth Vashishta’s wife has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking the early release of her husband.

Sharma’s wife Preety Sharma wrote to NHRC on Wednesday, saying her husband was eligible for early release under prison rules and also because of his good conduct behind bars all these years.

Sharma, the son of Haryana politician and former Congress leader Venod Sharma, is serving life imprisonment for the murder of model Jessica Lal at a party in South Delhi in April 1999. He had pulled out a gun and shot Lal, a model who was tending an unlicensed bar at a private party, after she refused to serve him a drink well past midnight.

Sharma’s wife filed the appeal before NHRC, terming her husband’s incarceration as a violation of his human rights.

Sharma 42, was convicted in 2006 of murdering Lal and sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent at least 15 years in prison since the day he was arrested by Delhi Police for the murder.

After the seven-member Sentence Review Board (SRB) rejected Sharma’s plea for early release in July, his advocate Amit Sahni had said they would seek legal recourse because Sharma was eligible for release. Sahni had said his client fulfilled all parameters for release such as the minimum time served of 14 years, clean record in prison, and positive report by police and jail authorities among others.

In December, Sharma had approached the Delhi High Court after the SRB rejected his plea in October last year.