Jessica Lall murder: 7 paroles in 9 years, Manu Sharma no stranger to controversy

NEW DELHI: Controversy has followed

Manu Sharma

in and out of jail. Lodged in Tihar Jail for killing Jessica Lall in 1999 , Sharma’s life has been under scrutiny from the first day. And past and present jail officials agree that his prison stint has been controversial right from the start.



His frequent paroles—at least seven since 2009—and his activities when out of jail made headlines, obviously for the wrong reasons. It started many years ago when he was spotted at a nightclub with friends when he was out on parole to see his “seriously ill” mother. He had also got into a pub brawl with a former top cop’s son, following which an encounter specialist was alerted. Post midnight, this policeman had rushed to the pub to “fix” Sharma and his friends, a source privy to that “operation” recalled. Incidentally, it had been alleged that the same policeman was present at

Tamarind Court in Mehrauli

on the intervening night of April 29 and 30, 1999, when

Jessica Lall

was shot.

File photo of Jessica Lall



Amid a furore, Sharma had to return to jail 12 days before the expiry of his parole. The then

Sheila Dikshit government

had come under fire amid allegations of her overriding the suggestion of state home secretary to give a 15-day parole instead of a month.

Sharma was granted parole to write exams, attend his brother’s marriage and his grandmother’s funeral. In between, there were allegations of Sharma stepping out of jail and visiting a hotel owned by his family that’s located near Tihar Jail. Sharma’s lawyers had denied the claims made by a website.

Another controversy had erupted after a jail official’s son had allegedly landed a job at that hotel. A news channel had claimed to have spoken to the jail warder and his son on camera.

In December 2016, Sharma was granted parole till January 12, 2017, to pursue LLB. A day before its expiry, the parole was extended so that he could get his marriage registered.

However, the storm around his paroles seemed to have subsided in the last few years. There were fewer news reports about Sharma’s misadventures, and whenever asked about his activities, jail officials used to inform that he was pursuing a graduate degree in law and later a postgraduate course in human rights.

Last October, he was shifted to an ‘open jail’ by the authorities, where people can go out in the morning and return after sunset.


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