Take call on Manu Sharma’s plea for premature release: Delhi HC tells review board

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid told the Delhi HC his client, Manu Sharma, had undergone 21 years, one month and six days of imprisonment, including remission, and so was eligible for premature release.

The Delhi high court on Monday asked the Sentence Review Board (SRB) to take a call on Jessica Lal murder convict Manu Sharma’s request for his premature release.

Manu Sharma, convicted in the Jessica Lal murder case, has spent over 21 years of imprisonment, including remission. (Anil Dayal / HT File)

Justice Najmi Waziri’s direction came after the Delhi government counsel said that new Delhi Prison Rules, 2018, were in force and the SRB would meet every three months.

The counsel told the court Sharma’s case would be considered in the next meeting. Sharma, who is lodged in an open jail, is allowed to leave prison in the morning and return in the evening after working outside.

“In the circumstances, it is expected the SRB shall consider this petition in its entirety along with the judgment of this court in the Sushil Sharma case in the next meeting, which is to be held in March 2019 or thereabouts,” the judge said, disposing of the plea filed by Siddharth Vashishta, known as Manu Sharma, who had challenged SRB’s recent order rejecting his premature release.

The board comprises the state home minister as it chairman, the prison’s director general, state home secretary, state law secretary, a district judge, the government’s chief probationary officer and a joint commissioner rank office from Delhi Police.

The plea filed through advocate Amit Sahni said Sharma’s name was first sent to SRB in September 2017. But the board rejected his case “despite his extraordinary conduct”. Sharma had referred to the recent release of Sushil Sharma, convicted in the infamous Tandoor case, after serving 23 years in the prison.

Appearing for 43-year-old Sharma, senior advocate Salman Khurshid told the court his client had undergone 21 years, one month and six days of imprisonment, including remission, and so was eligible for premature release.

In response, Delhi government counsel Rahul Mehra said SRB guidelines were not binding on it and they only laid down the eligibility criteria to be considered for premature release. He said the new rules had done away with the eligibility criteria of having undergone 20-25 years of imprisonment with remission.

Following this, the judge disposed of the plea, granting Sharma the liberty to move the court in case he had any problems.