Jessica Lal case: Convict Manu Sharma gets parole for exams

The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted parole to Manu Sharma, serving a life term in the Jessica Lal murder case, to enable him appear in law exams.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar granted him parole from December 10 to 15 and from December 20 to January 1, next.

The court directed Sharma to furnish a bond of Rs.50,000 with two sureties of the like amount and not to try to meet any witnesses or family of the deceased in the case.

Sharma, pursuing a Bachelor of Law (LLB) course from Annamalai University, said his exams would take place from December 26 till December 30 in Chandigarh and sought a month's parole.

He said he also was to attend a personal contact programme from December 11 in Chennai.

Sharma, 36, was convicted for life for killing ramp model Jessica Lal. He was sent to jail by the high court in December 2006. The life term was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Jessica Lal, 34, was working as a celebrity waitress, when she was shot dead on April 29, 1999, by Sharma at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani in south Delhi's Mehrauli area after she refused to serve him drinks.

Manu Sharma is a son of former Congress leader Venod Sharma.