Jessica's killer is partying, thanks to Sheila Dikshit

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit has found herself in a spot over recommendation of parole to Jessica Lal murder convict Manu Sharma. Even as BJP attacked the CM for facilitating parole for Sharma on the ���false pretext��� of his mother���s illness, Congress distanced itself from the case talking of a cancellation of parole for Sharma in the event of his having violated norms.

However, the party was quick to defend Ms Dikshit from BJP���s charges. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the parole decision was not taken by the CM alone but by all agencies linked with the case.

Ms Dikshit, herself, said there was nothing ���illegal or unusual��� about granting parole to Sharma as it was within ���legal purview���. Mr Singhvi held: ���You are absolutely right when you condemn any fraud in parole but you are totally wrong in connecting the Congress chief minister to it.���

BJP���s V K Malhotra had attacked the CM, holding her responsible for the decision and accusing her of meting out partial treatment to prisoners. ���Sharma is on parole on the false pretext of his mother���s illness. The parole was recommended by Ms Dikshit which is condemnable. She took the decision coming under pressure from Congress leaders as he is the son of an influential Congress leader,��� Mr Malhotra said.

The 32-year-old Sharma, who hails from one of Chandigarh���s top business and political families, was released on parole for two months on the ground of his mother���s illness. However, he was reportedly spotted in a nightclub in a hotel in the Capital recently.

His mother was also seen addressing a press conference at the Sharma family hotel in Chandigarh. Raising these issues, Mr Malhotra demanded that Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna cancel Sharma���s parole at the earliest.

Ms Dikshit held that ���parole is something that every prisoner wants and it is nothing illegal that he asks for.���
She also said that the recommendation had been done after taking suggestions from all concerned agencies and on the basis of reports from jail and police authorities certifying that Sharma���s behaviour was ���good���.

Sharma is serving life sentence at Tihar jail here after losing a protracted legal battle in the Delhi high court, which held him guilty of murdering model Jessica Lal on the night of April 29, 1999, at the Tamarind Court Bar owned by socialite Bina Ramani. Though Congress defended the CM, the party washed its hands off the parole controversy.

���Congress is not supporting it (a possible violation of parole by Sharma),��� a senior Congress leader said, suggesting that a cancellation of the permission was on the cards as the reason cited by Sharma, that of his mother���s illness, was now being doubted.