THE JESSICA LAL MURDER CASE

A Research and Analysis Study

By
Kashish Kochar
JESSICA LAL
1. Jessica Lal (1965-1999) was born to May Lal and Ajit Lal as their eldest
daughter. She had a sister by the name of Sabrina.
2. She was a young woman of 34 years, a model by profession and a well
known face of the glamour world.
3. She was bartending with her friend Shayan Munshi at the Tamarind Court
Club in Qutab Colonade restaurant on the night of 29-30 April 1999.
4. At 2:30 am that night, Manu Sharma and his friends asked for a drink which
was refused by her as the time for last call had elapsed.
5. Filled with rage, Manu Sharma pulled out his Italian Berretta pistol and shot
the first bullet in the ceiling and the second in Jessica’s head. She died on the
spot.
SABRINA LAL
1. Sabrina Lal was Jessica’s younger sister. She fought against her sister’s killer
and did all in her might to ensure his sentence.
2. She was in the forefront of the “Justice for Jessica” movement and did
numerous interviews with different news channels to spread the truth.
3. She passed away this August due to a prolonged liver disease.
MANU SHARMA
1. Manu Sharma was the son of the former central government minister Vinod
Sharma.
2. His father was a man with powers, position, prestige in the society
3. On the night of 29-30 April 1999, Manu Sharma shot Jessica Lal at the
Tamarind Court club after he was refused a drink by her.
SHAYAN MUNSHI
1. Shayan Munshi was a good friend of Jessica Lal. He was co- bartending
alongside her on the night of the incident.
2. He was the prime witness of the prosecution and turned hostile on the day of
his testimony in the Delhi Sessions Court.
3. Munshi was responsible in introducing the 'two guns' theory while the case
was being investigated which also delayed the entire trial.
 A TIMELINE FOR FACTS OF THE CASE – TILL 2006
1. April 29/30, 1999: Manu Sharma, the prime murder suspect allegedly shoots Ramp model Jessica Lal at the Tamarind Court café.
After this, Sharma and his friends -Amardeep Singh Gill, Vikas Yadav, and Alok Khanna left the scene.
2. Jessica Lal taken to Ashok Hospital by Jatinder Raj and Madan Waiter. 
3. At about 2.45 a.m. SHO S.K. Sharma reaches the spot with police staff. Sharwan Kumar was deputed to guard the vehicles.
4. While he was guarding the vehicles, a Tata Sierra of white colour driven Amardeep Gill and Vikas Yadav enters and the Tata
Safari is driven away.
5. May 4, 1999: Co-accused, Amardeep Singh Gill and Ashok Khanna arrested.
6. May 6, 1999: Manu Sharma is arrested in Chandigarh.
7. Aug 3, 1999: Charge sheet filed against twelve persons. They were Shyam Sunder Sharma, Amit Jhingan, Yograj Singh,
Harvinder Chopra, Vikas Yadav, Amardeep Singh gill, Raja Chopra, Ravinder Krishan Sudan and Dhanraj.
8. Manu Sharma is charged under Section 302 IPC, 201 IPC, 120-B IPC and Section 27 of Arms Act.
9. Nov 24, 2000: Charges were framed by the court.
10. May 2001: Prosecution suffers setback when key eyewitness Shayan Munshi.Witness electrician ShivDas and Karan Rajput also
turns hostile.
11. Time elapses and in 2005 Delhi High Court grants regular bail to Manu Sharma.
12. In December 2005, Prosecution concludes final arguments.
13. In February 2006, the Sessions Court acquits all twelve of all charges.
 REACTION TO THE ACQUITTAL
1. There were numerous protest campaigns seeking to obtain redress for the perceived miscarriage of justice. All messages were
formulated into a petition and taken to H.E. The President of India Shri A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

2. Rallies, candlelit vigils and marches took place across the nation. Delhi became the epicentre of social movement with the
hashtag “Justice for Jessica”.

3. Jessica’s sister Sabrina Lal herself led numerous protesting marches at the India Gate.

4. The protests and candle light vigils were led by Prabhloch Singh, the founder of an organization called the "Middle Finger
Protests", also known as "Human Rights Protection Group" from Manu Sharma's hometown Chandigarh.

5. Former CJI V.N. Khare implicitly criticized the trial judge, saying that it should have been an "open and shut"
case .“Sometimes when the police, the prosecution and the lawyers all have connections with the criminals, the judge should
be slightly proactive. He should try to get to the truth, and not depend totally on the evidence provided in court. In a case like
this, he is not going to get proper evidence. Mostly the judiciary is depended on the evidence provided by the investigative
agencies, but now when the situation is so bad, the judges have to wake up, be proactive and find the truth.”
SHAYAN MUNSHI
1. Post Manu Sharma’s acquittal in February 2006, Munshi drew criticism for
succumbing to the might of the influential.
2. Post the acquittal; the STAR NEWS in collaboration with ‘Tehalka’ magazine
conducted a sting operation where two journalists posed as casting agents of a
big Hollywood project and approached Munshi.
3. During the course of the conversation, which was taped through a hidden
camera, Munshi was asked to speak in Hindi to test his fluency in the
language.
4. Munshi not only conversed in fluent Hindi but also admitted that he could
read and write in that language- something that he had denied in the Delhi
Sessions court when he turned hostile.
 APPEAL AND DECISION OF THE HON’BLE HIGH COURT
OF DELHI
1. On 9 September 2006- sting operation by the news magazine Tehelka on Shayan Munshi shown on TV channel STAR News. It
proved that witnesses were bribed and coerced into retracting their initial testimony.

2. Because of this, Vinod Sharma resigned from the Haryana cabinet.

3. The High Court stated “With very great respect to the learned judge Bhayana, 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.”

4. About Shayan Munshi, The High Court stated “Munshi claimed 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 that two guns were involved, the judgment says: " We have no manner of doubt that on this aspect
he is telling a complete lie."

5. On 20 December 2006, Sharma was punished with a sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 50,000/-. The other
accused, Yadav and Gill, were fined and given four years' rigorous imprisonment.
 THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN
1. The chain of evidence produced by the prosecution was broken. So, all the circumstantial evidence of the prosecution fell through
in court.

2. There was an illegal nexus of the accused with certain police officers as the accused’s father was a cabinet minister in the
Haryana state government during the trial. The then police officer Inspector Surinder Sharma, under whose jurisdiction was the
Tamarind Court restaurant- ultimately became the investigating officer of the case.

3. Altering the scene of crime - The blood stains had been wiped off. Jessica’s clothes had been changed before she was taken to the
hospital.

4. All the 32 witnesses against Manu Sharma turned hostile in the Delhi Sessions Court.

5. The case dragged on for six long years. It is too long a time for even the bravest of witnesses to stand by his/her statement,
especially in the face of threats and pressure.

6. Police unable to trace the murder weapon .

 THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN
7. The forensic report may be tampered, which showed that the two cartridges found at the spot were from different weapons.

8. The police claimed Sharma shot Jessica with a .22 bore pistol. They were unable to explain the 25 rounds which Manu Sharma
had were ‘made in India’, while the bullets recovered from the spot were ‘made in America.’
 IS JUSTICE FOR SALE?
1. Jessica Lal verdict adds further proof to the anarchy that she herself being a top model, could not get justice, there is little hope
for the common man.

2. The rich and powerful very conveniently bought the judicial system, to first delay justice for 6 years, and then to have a totally
incredulous “Not guilty” verdict in their favour.

3. Manu Sharma was the son of Vinod Sharma, who at the time of the shooting was a former Central Government minister and later
became a Cabinet minister in the Haryana state government (2006 – during acquittal).

4. Vikas Yadav was the son of another state politician, D. P. Yadav.

5. The host Bina Ramani was a socialite and fashion designer who allegedly had contacts in high places and whose daughter Malini
Ramani knew Lal as a fellow-model.
 WAS MANU SHARMA REALLY ‘IN’ TIHAR JAIL?

1. Post Manu Sharma’s sentence, his father Vinod Sharma bought the five-star Hilton hotel next to Tihar jail (only 4 Kms away) to
supply him with food and cash for favours.

2. Not only did Manu Sharma have access to comfort but the quid pro quo system also became visible for jail staffers. They could
wine and dine nearby.

3. Starting 2006, the superintendent, deputy superintendent and many others in Tihar became a part of the “Sharma payroll.” After
2010, and the acquisition of the hotel, his sphere of influence increased and he even secured jobs for their families at the hotel.

4. Manu Sharma got jobs for about 50 relatives of the jail staffers at the hotel. If the hotel could not use their services because they
were overqualified, they would be accommodated at his brother Kartikeya’s media company, News X.

6. If a jail staff member had a wedding in the family, Manu’s hotel was open to them. If the food had to be ordered in the jail, it
would come from Manu’s hotel.

7. In the words of Sunil Gupta, “ I clearly remember Manu sitting with Director General Alok Verma and Inspector General Mukesh
Prasad in their room and ordering food from there.” He literally had the entire jail hierarchy eating out of his hands.
 WAS MANU SHARMA REALLY ‘IN’ TIHAR JAIL?
6. Manu’s influence did not just stem from money. He was connected to a lot of famous and powerful people and they all came to
visit him in jail. Apart from his father Vinod Sharma, many politicians dropped in to see him. These meeting would not happen in
the usual Mulaqat room but in the Deodi or the reception area of the jail, right next to the top official’s office.
BOLLYWOOD CULTURE- JESSICA LAL MURDER ON BIG SCREEN

“Six Suspects”, a 2016 novel written by Vikas

Swarup is centred on a similar murder.
“No One Killed Jessica”, a 2011 Hindi film starring Rani Mukherjee and
Vidya Balan, is inspired from this incident.
THANK YOU