Verdict on Jessica Lall case today

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounceu00a0 its verdict on Monday on the appeal of Manu Sharma, the son of former Congress parliamentarian Venod Sharma, against his conviction and life term for murdering ramp model Jessica Lall in 1999.

A bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Swantanter Kumar had reserved its verdict on Feb 18 after hearing arguments from both sides. Former union law minister Ram Jethmalani was among those who appeared for Sharma, while Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam appeared for the Delhi Police.

Manu Sharma has challenged his conviction and life sentence awarded by the Delhi High Court in December 2006.

Defending Sharma, Jethmalani sought scrapping of the high court verdict, which had set aside the trial court judgement acquitting the accused. Jethmalani contended that the high court had reversed the trial court verdict under media pressure.

Endorsing the high court verdict, Subramaniam submitted that there was sufficient evidence to prove Sharma's role in the killing of the ramp model in socialite Bina Ramani's restaurant Tamarind Court in South Delhi on April 29-30 1999.

Visiting the restaurant with some of his friends, Sharma had allegedly opened fire on Lall following a tiff over his demand for a drink, when the restaurant was to close for the day.