HC ACCUSES GOVT OF FAVOURING MANU SHARMA

In a strong indictment to the Delhi government, the Delhi High Court on November 20 said Manu Sharma, who is serving life sentence for the murder of model Jessica Lal, got parole because he was influential. The government had told the court earlier that if a prisoner had appealed against his sentence then he is not eligible for parole. However, this rule was not followed in Sharma’s case. Justice Kailash Gambhir said that in normal cases the government takes three to six months to decide a parole application of a convict but in the case of Sharma it disposed off his plea within 20 days. “The list (regarding number of parole applications) depicts a dismal picture showing the government is giving least priority to parole applications of convicts. No doubt the Home Department has given selective treatment to some convicts because of their high connections,” Gambhir said. Meanwhile, the state government submitted a draft for new guidelines for parole before the Delhi High Court. Sharma voluntarily returned to a jail in New Delhi on November 10 after a controversy over the Delhi government’s decision to grant him parole for two months. Serving life imprisonment for murder of Lal in 1999, Sharma was granted parole on the ground that his mother was ill and he had to attend to family business matters. His parole was extended on October 22 for 30 more days on Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s recommendation to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna. On parole, Sharma went partying in two New Delhi hotels Ashok and Samrat. The Dikshit-led Congress government came under severe criticism for releasing Sharma on parole when news of his partying broke.