Jessica case: 'Venod Sharma should resign'

Chautala on Friday demanded dismissal of Haryana Power Minister Venod Sharma, father of Manu Sharma.

Opposition Indian National Lok Dal on Friday demanded dismissal of Haryana Power Minister Venod Sharma, father of the main accused in the Jessica Lall murder, following the sting operation by a newsweekly alleging that witnesses in the case were bribed to change their statements.

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"Sharma should be booked as a co-accused under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The provision hold that any person who wins over witnesses or allures them could be booked as a co-accused on the same charges applied to the accused," INLD President Om parkash Chautala told a news conference in Chandigarh.

He said the minister should have resigned "on moral grounds" following the Tehelka newsweekly expose and demanded that Chief Minister BS Hooda dismiss him from the cabinet.

Manu Sharma, son of the minister, is the main accused in the murder of the former fashion model in New Delhi in 1999.

Tehelka claimed to have carried out a three-month sting against three key witnesses—Shyam Munshi, Karan Rajput and Shiv Dass—who turned hostile in the case leading to Manu's acquittal.