Jessica Lal’s murderer Manu Sharma walked out of the Tihar Jail yesterday, a decade after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
This came after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved his premature release late last month.
Sharma, son of former federal minister Venod Sharma, was convicted for killing Lal in 1999.
A lower court acquitted him, but the Delhi High Court reversed the verdict and sentenced him to life imprisonment which was upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2010.
Lal, a model, was shot dead by Sharma after she refused to serve him drinks at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area on the night of April 30, 1999.
The ups and downs in the case were made into a Bollywood movie. Lal’s family was destroyed by the tragedy and they fought a long hard battle.
The only surviving member in Lal’s family is her sister Sabrina.
Speaking to IANS, Sharma’s lawyer Amit Sahni said, “It’s a day of happiness as a long battle of court and prolonged incarceration has come to an end. This is a result of his good behaviour inside the jail. He was already out of the jail as he was on emergency parole but after completing all the formalities inside the jail on June 1 he is now officially released.” 
Along with Sharma, Baijal approved the release of 18 convicts serving life sentence.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) read with the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi Notification…dated 20 March, 1974, the Lt Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is pleased to remit the un-expired portion of the sentence of the following 19 (nineteen) life convicts on the recommendations of the Sentence Reviewing Board in its meeting held on 11.05.20,” the order dated May 28 said.
The decision comes after the Sentence Review Board recommended the release of Sharma for his “good conduct” inside the jail and outside too while on paroles and furlough.