Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra Monday attacked Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s decision to give two months parole to Manu Sharma, who is undergoing life imprisonment for the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lal.
Malhotra demanded that Delhi Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna should reconsider the parole given to a convict like Sharma and immediately cancel it.

Sharma, who is serving his sentence at the Tihar Jail here, was granted parole on the ground that his mother was seriously ill and he had to attend to family business matters.

His parole was further extended Nov 22 for 30 more days on Dikshit’s recommendation to the Lt Governor.

A statement released by Malhotra, who is also the leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly, said that Dikshit’s recommendation for parole to Sharma, who is the son of a senior Congress leader, is “condemnable”.

“The Delhi chief minister took this kind of decision under pressure from Congress leaders,” alleged Malhotra, adding the reality was that Sharma’s mother was seen briefing a women cricket related press conference in Chandigarh and he was witnessed in Samrat hotel.

On Sunday, the Dikshit-led Congress government came under severe criticism for releasing Sharma on parole after he was seen partying in Samrat Hotel’s elite nightclub Lap late Friday.

On Saturday, his mother Shakti Rani held a press conference in the family-run Piccadilly Hotel in Chandigarh to give a brief on a national under-19 women’s cricket tournament.

Her press conference further raised questions about the state of her health.

The tournament is being organised by the Chandigarh Women’s Cricket Association and Shakti Rani is the association’s general secretary.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister defended her decision, saying: “All was done according to the rules.”

“Whatever has taken place is under the provisions of law. The decision was taken by a committee that included the jail superintendent, home secretary, Delhi government, Delhi Police and the Lt governor,” Dikshit said.

“It is a right of a prisoner to apply for parole. The committee recommends a parole after reviewing a person’s complete case,” she added.

Jessica was shot dead in a bar in south Delhi April 29, 1999. The police arrested Sharma alias Siddharth Vashisht, the son of a wealthy Haryana Congress politician Venod Sharma.