New Delhi: Manu Sharma, convicted for the murder of Jessica Lal, was freed from jail along with 18 others on Monday.
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has approved the premature release of Sharma, who is serving life sentence. Sharma is already out on a parole since April first week as part of the measures to prevent overcrowding in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The LG order will allow Sharma to be free three years before his actual sentence gets over.
The Delhi Sentence Review Board (SRB) which comes under the Delhi government had recommended Sharma's premature release last month.
The sources said the recommendation was made at a meeting of the SRB chaired by Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain on May 11.
On May 28, the Delhi Home Department had issued an order for premature release of 19 convicts, including Sharma's.
"Sharma walked out of jail on Monday. He spent 17 years behind bars. His actual period with remission is 23 years and four months," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Geol said.
Sharma, son of former Union Minister Vinod Sharma, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006 for killing Jessica Lal in 1999.
A trial court had acquitted him, but the high court reversed the order and the Supreme Court later upheld his life sentence in April 2010.
For the past two years, Sharma had been lodged in an open jail wherein he was allowed to leave for work at 8am and return at 6pm. He worked with a non-profit organisation for rehabilitation of prisoners.
According to the DSRB, Manu Sharma had availed parole 12 times and furlough 24 times.
Meanwhile, Women rights activists have called "unfortunate" the decision to prematurely release Sharma, saying it sets a wrong precedent.
Calling the release "shocking and bizarre", Women's rights activist Shamina Shafiq said,"already the country has been dealing with so much as far as crimes against women are concerned. For Nirbhaya, it took so many years of turmoil to get justice for the family. We see one more person walking scot free..."
Lal was shot dead by Sharma after she had refused to serve him liquor at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in south Delhi's Mehrauli area on the night of April 30, 1999.
(With inputs from PTI)
