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Jessica Lall
1965-1999 Born Died Occupation 5 January 1965 India 29 April 1999 (aged 34) New Delhi India Actress, Model
Jessica Lall (19651999) was a model in New Delhi, who was working as a celebrity barmaid at a crowded socialite party when she was shot dead on 29 April 1999.[1] Dozens of witnesses pointed to Siddharth Vashisht, a.k.a. Manu Sharma, the son of Venod Sharma, a wealthy and influential Congress-nominated Member of Parliament from Haryana, as the murderer. In the ensuing trial, Manu Sharma and a number of others were acquitted on 21 February 2006. Following intense media and public pressure, the prosecution appealed and the Delhi High Court conducted proceedings on a fast track with daily hearings conducted over 25 days. The trial court judgment was overturned, and Manu Sharma was found guilty of having murdered Lall. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 20 December 2006.
Contents
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1 Background
o 1.1 The initial trial 2 Acquittal by Lower Court o 2.1 Aftermath 3 Appeal and conviction in high court o 3.1 Judgement o 3.2 Life sentence by Supreme Court of India 4 See also 5 In other media 6 References 7 External links
[edit] Background
This article reads more like a story than an encyclopedia entry. To meet Wikipedia's quality standards and conform to the neutral point of view policy, please help to introduce a more formal style and remove any personally invested tone. (January 2011) During the summer of 1999, Bina Ramani had been organizing Thursday Night Specials", at her newly opened Tamarind Court restaurant and unlicensed bar at Qutub Colonnade, a refurbished palace overlooking the Qutub Minar in Mehrauli.[2] On 29 April 1999, Jessica Lall was working serving drinks,though the restaurant was yet to receive its liquor license,[3] drinks could be bought through discreetly marked QC coupons. [2] At about 2 a.m. Manu Sharma asked for a drink, which Lall refused to serve; he then tried to offer a thousand rupees, which she refused as well. Manu Sharma then shot at Lall twice at point blank range, the first bullet hitting the ceiling. The second one proved fatal, as it hit Lall in the temple. Lall was taken to the Aashlok Hospital (in Safdurjung Enclave) in a car but she died that same night at the Apollo Hospital.[2] The police brought the body to AIIMS for post-mortem examination by Dr. R.K Sharma as well as Dr. Sudhir Gupta. In the ensuing melee, the perpetrators, Amardeep Singh Gill (Tony), and Vikas Yadav slipped away from the scene together in Aloks car, while Manu Sharma hid for a while in a nearby village, a kilometre away. The trio dropped Amit Jhingan at his Vasant Kunj residence, and reached Tonys Friends Colony residence, where later Manu Sharma also joined them, after hitchhiking his way there on a two-wheeler. Next, Manu Sharma called Amit Jhingan, in whose white Maruti Gypsy Manu Sharma, Vikas Yadav, and Amit went over to the Mehrauli area beyond Qutub Colonnade, and asked Amit to dig out the weapon from a sand pile in a nearby village, where Manu had buried it. Thereafter, Jhingan dropped Manu at Tonys residence and returned home. According to Police sources, Manu Sharma then called over another friend named Titu, who was visiting India from the US for a wedding, to MP D.P. Yadavs residence where Vikas Yadav had gone into hiding. There he was given the weapon for hiding. Titu's whereabouts were never
known and he ostensibly flew off to the US, after hiding the weapon, a .22-bore pistol.[4] Manu Sharma spent the night at Vikas Yadavs Ghaziabad residence; later, their escape vehicle, a Tata Sierra, was found abandoned in NOIDA.[5] While Manu Sharma and most of his family continued to abscond, as did Vinod Sharma and his family,[6][7] Alok Khanna and Amardeep Singh Gill (Tony) were arrested on 4 May. On 8 May, Bina Ramani, her husband, George Mailhot and her daughter Malini, were arrested under the Excise Act for running an illegal bar after interrogation; also arrested was Manu Sharmas accomplice, Amit Jhingan, from Vasant Kunj under Section 201 read with 120 (conspiring to destroy evidence), on the basis of disclosures made by Manu Sharma during interrogation. A Delhi court granted bail to the Ramanis, though their passports were seized, with Bina being a British national, her husband, a Canadian national, and Malini a US national; and Amit Jhingan was remanded to judicial custody till 21 May.[4][8] On 19 May, Vikas Yadav walked into the Delhi police headquarters and surrendered, but only hours later he walked out, as he carried anticipatory bail papers from Imphal Court. The police chose not to arrest him that day, as according to Manipur High Court orders, he was granted two months of bail as soon as he was arrested. Through the press he said, Manu (the main accused) came to my house and wanted to spend the night there. I only allowed him to stay not knowing what had happened. [9] Vikas Yadav was finally caught on 30 May.[5] Later, on 9 July, Delhi High Court cancelled his bail, yet Vikas Yadav managed to elude police custody for a while [10] In September 1999, a sessions court granted Vikas Yadav interim bail with the direction that he had to surrender before the trial court a week before beginning of the trial and seek fresh bail; subsequently on 17 May 2001, he was sent into judicial custody, only to be given bail by a Delhi city court four days later.[11] On 3 August 1999, Delhi police filed the charge sheet in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate, wherein Manu Sharma was named the main accused and charged under sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), and 212 (harbouring suspects) of the Indian Penal Code; and sections 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. While other accused, like Vikas Yadav, Coca-Cola Company officials Alok Khanna and Amardeep Singh Gill (destroying evidence of the case and conspiracy); Shyam Sunder Sharma, Amit Jhingan, Yograj Singh, Harvinder Chopra, Vikas Gill, Raja Chopra, Ravinder Krishan Sudan and Dhanraj, were all charged variously under sections 120(b), 302, 201 and 212 of the IPC (for giving shelter to the accused and destroying evidence) [5] Manu Sharma gave a statement to the Police, which was taped, in which he admits shooting Jessica Lall. "The idea at that time was to shoot in challenge. It was embarrassing to hear that even if I paid a thousand bucks I would not get a sip of drink." This audiotape was obtained and aired by the TV channel NDTV, but it does not constitute legal testimony. Subsequently, however, the confession was retracted, and a not guilty plea was entered in the trial. Manu Sharma is the son of one of the leading politicians in the state of Haryana, Venod Sharma, who belongs to the Congress Party. Earlier a minister in the National Cabinet, Venod Sharma was a minister in the Haryana government at the time the trial judgement was announced.
Subsequently, a sting operation by the newsmagazine Tehelka exposed how Venod Sharma paid bribes to win over key witnesses, and Venod Sharma resigned from the Haryana Ministry on 6 October 2006.
Throughout his 179-page case verdict, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) S L Bhayana said that police sought to 'create' and 'introduce false evidence' against Sharma. The judgment repeatedly hints that the prosecution may have attempted, from the very beginning, to fabricate the evidence and present false witnesses, so as to render the case indefensible. In conclusion, he agrees with "the counsel for the accused that on 30 April 1999 the police had decided to frame the accused," read the judgment. The judgment faulted the police for deciding on the accused first and then collecting evidence against him, instead of letting the evidence lead them to the murderer. Since the prosecution had failed to establish guilt beyond doubt, all nine accused were acquitted.
[edit] Aftermath
In the immense uproar, hundreds of thousands of people e-mailed and SMS-ed their outrage on petitions forwarded by media channels and newspapers to the President and others seeking remedies for the alleged miscarriage of justice. Soon, NDTV, a news channel, received more than 200,000 cellphone text messages urging retrial.[3] A poll conducted by the newspaper Hindustan Times showed that on a scale of 1 to 10, the public's faith in law enforcement in India was about 2.7 Public pressure built up with newspapers splashing headlines such as "No one killed Jessica", and TV channels running SMS polls. Models, fashion designers, friends, relatives and others held candlelight vigils at India Gate in New Delhi to protest the verdict, followed by an even bigger candlelight protest accompanied by a unique week long t-shirt campaign (slogan: we support re-investigation of Jessica Lal's murder, let the truth come out) in Manu Sharma's hometown, Chandigarh.The protest in Chandigarh was led by a young self-proclaimed activist (who now heads a Fight for Justice and Rights Organisation called Human Rights Protection Group, formerly known as "Middle Finger Protests"). Hundreds of students, MNC executives along with retired IAS and Army officers participated in the protest.[1][3] Surender Sharma, the police inspector responsible for the investigation, was transferred from the plum Hauz Khas position to a bureaucratic post. The police have also launched an inquiry against the possibly deliberate ineptitude of their own earlier investigation. On 18 April 2006, the division bench comprising Justice Manmohan Sareen and Justice J M Malik released Manu Sharma on Rs 1 Lakh (USD 2000) bail.[14] They also pulled up the Delhi Police and urged them to ensure minimal delays in the re-trial process
rupees to some of the witnesses.[15] Facing pressure from the central Congress leaders, Venod Sharma resigned from the Haryana cabinet.
[edit] Judgement
On 15 December 2006, the High Court bench of Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin, in a 61-page judgement held Manu Sharma guilty based on existing evidence. The judgement said that the lower court had been lax in not considering the testimony of witnesses such as Bina Ramani and Deepak Bhojwani: "With very great respect to the learned judge, we point out that this manner of testing the credibility of the witness is hardly a rule of appreciation of evidence... Obviously, this reflects total lack of application of mind and suggests a hasty approach towards securing a particular end, namely the acquittal." [16] In particular, the key witness Shayan Munshi came in for serious criticism, and may be facing criminal proceedings. The judgement says, of his repudiating his own FIR: "[Munshi] is now claiming that the said statement was recorded in Hindi while he had narrated the whole story in English as he did not know Hindi at all... We do not find this explanation of Munshi to be convincing." Regarding Munshi's testimony about the two-gun theory, the judgement says: "In court he has taken a somersault and came out with a version that there were two gentlemen at the bar counter. ... [W]e have no manner of doubt that on this aspect he is telling a complete lie... " [17] All 32 witnesses who turned hostile have been asked to appear before the court on 21 February 2011 to explain why they should not be tried for perjury. On 20 December 2006, Manu Sharma was awarded life imprisonment. The other accused, Vikas Yadav and AmarDeep Singh Gill, were awarded four years of imprisonment for destroying evidence. [18] Manu Sharma's lawyer, R K Naseem said the decision would be appealed in Supreme Court, because the judgement was wrong in holding Bina Ramani to have been an eyewitness. According to a widely circulated media report, Manu Sharma told a friend after the trial in Hindi: mere bhaagya main yehi thaa. taqdeer kaa faislaa yehi thaa (Such was my fate. This was decided by destiny).[17] There was widespread celebration of Manu's conviction on the media, where it was seen as evidence that the people's voice could move the wheels of justice. Given the past record in India of cases such as Sanjeev Nanda, it was felt that the Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Mattoo convictions finally indicated that even the most powerful were not above the law. Delhi Government grants Manu Sharma 30 days parole On 24 September 2009, Delhi Lieutenant Governor granted Manu Sharma 30-day parole from jail, on the grounds that Sharma needed to attend to his ailing mother and also look after the family business which was suffering in his absence. Some media reports also claimed that he has to perform rituals following the death of his grandmother. But, they were found totally untrue as
Sharma's grandmother died in 2008.[19] This parole was extended by another 30 days. Manu Sharma has been seen partying in a night-club during this time also, his mother who was ill was seen at a media briefing on Saturday promoting a ladies cricket tournament at the family-run hotel in Chandigarh, the Piccadilly Hotel.[20] On 10 November 2009, following media uproar, the Delhi government, under criticism for granting and extending parole without proper verification of reasons submitted by the accused for seeking parole, had reportedly decided to look into whether his parole should be cancelled, because Sharma visited a Delhi nightclub over the weekend. But Manu Sharma surrendered next day to Tihar jail, two weeks before his parole expired.[citation needed] Supreme Court upheld the HC verdict in the Jessica Lall murder case. Prime accused Manu Sharma had challenged his conviction and life sentence awarded by the Delhi High Court on 19 April 2010.