| Revision as of 13:20, 7 October 2006 editMukerjee (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers4,328 editsmNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 05:40, 8 October 2006 edit undoMukerjee (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers4,328 editsm →Cover-UpNext edit → | ||
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| ===Cover-Up=== | ===Cover-Up=== | ||
| Sharma was acquitted of all charges in February 2006, causing | |||
| Sharma's acquittal caused widespread outrage in India with calls to the President, ], for the case to be reopened, since it appeared to be a clear case of brazen misuse of power and influence by persons in high places. Even in the | |||
| widespread outrage in India. The President, ], and others | |||
| were appealed to so that the case could be reopened, | |||
| since it appeared to be a clear case of brazen misuse of power and | |||
| influence by persons in high places. Even in the | |||
| venal atmosphere of the criminal justice system in India where the art of buying/ intimidating/ cajoling witnesses and bribing investigating policemen is well | venal atmosphere of the criminal justice system in India where the art of buying/ intimidating/ cajoling witnesses and bribing investigating policemen is well | ||
| known, the circumstances are by many deemed too shocking. | known, the circumstances are by many deemed too shocking. Subsequently a new | ||
| case has been filed and Manu is currently being tried. | |||
| Very few dared to come forward to depose. The few who did | |||
| eventually turned hostile. The eyewitnesses who turned hostile | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| and Shivdas Yadav, who were all present at the site of the incident when Manu Sharma alledgedly shot Jessica Lal. | |||
| In the original trial, very few would come forward to depose. | |||
| Eyewitnesses who initially claimed to have seen the murder, such as | |||
| ⚫ | Shyan Munshi, Karan Rajput | ||
| and Shivdas Yadav, all turned hostile. | |||
| Increasingly, revelations in the media have been piecing together | Increasingly, revelations in the media have been piecing together | ||
| the story of the pressure, bribery and coercion that led to this reversal. | the story of the pressure, bribery and coercion that led to this reversal. | ||
| In July-September 2006, | In July-September 2006, | ||
| the magazine ] carried out a three month long sting operation | the magazine ] carried out a three month long sting operation | ||
| Line 65: | Line 71: | ||
| One of the key witnesses was Karan Rajput, who was present at | One of the key witnesses was Karan Rajput, who was present at | ||
| the restaurant to borrow money | the restaurant to borrow money | ||
| from his nephew, | from his nephew, Jitendra, the manager at the bar. | ||
| Jitendra, the manager at the bar. | |||
| Rajput who had long been an alcoholic, was asked by his nephew | Rajput who had long been an alcoholic, was asked by his nephew | ||
| to sit at a chair which happened | to sit at a chair which happened | ||
| Line 77: | Line 82: | ||
| After the incident Karan Rajput lived a life of parties and drinking | After the incident Karan Rajput lived a life of parties and drinking | ||
| bouts - although he | bouts - although he | ||
| had no visible means of income. In January |
had no job or other visible means of income. In January 2005, he died of | ||
| cirrhosis of the liver. The ] expose | cirrhosis of the liver. The ] expose | ||
| revealed <ref> | revealed <ref> | ||
| Line 84: | Line 89: | ||
| |title=Killers of Justice | |title=Killers of Justice | ||
| |accessdate=2006-10-06 |author=Vineet Khare and Harinder Baweja}}</ref> | |accessdate=2006-10-06 |author=Vineet Khare and Harinder Baweja}}</ref> | ||
| that Karan Rajput was a regular visitor to Venod Sharma's |
that Karan Rajput was a regular visitor to Venod Sharma's offices in | ||
| ], Delhi where he would collect money. Friends and drinking buddies | ] and ], Delhi where he would collect money. | ||
| Friends and drinking buddies | |||
| who would go with him mention a total figure between Rs. | who would go with him mention a total figure between Rs. | ||
| 20 Lakhs and Rs. 35 lakhs. |
20 Lakhs and Rs. 35 lakhs (at a salary of Rs. 10,000 p.m., this is more than twenty year's wages). | ||
| Here is part of the conversation that the Tehelka reporter had with a friend | |||
| salary of Rs. 10,000 p.m., this is more than twenty year's wages. | |||
| of Karan<ref name=tehelka />: | |||
| :Surendra: I saw him taking receiving money at Okhla. | |||
| :Question: Where at Okhla? | |||
| :Surendra: From Sharma’s place. In front of Okhla depot there is a building. Sharma owns entire building. We used to collect money from there itself. | |||
| :Question: How much money? | |||
| :Surendra: Whatever we needed? | |||
| :Question: Whatever you say! | |||
| :Surendra: Whatever we demand. We used to get 20 25 thousand every month just like that. His number is in mamu’s ( Karan Rajput) diary. | |||
| :... | |||
| :Question: Would you accompany Rajput when he used to go to collect money ? | |||
| :Surendra: Yes. | |||
| :Question: How would they pay, cheque or cash? | |||
| :Surendra: Cheque. | |||
| :Question: How much money would come? | |||
| :Surendra: They gave twice in Nepal. | |||
| :Question: When you would go to Okhla was the amount fixed? | |||
| :Surendra: Later they fixed it at 20 thousand. Initially he would 60 thousand sometime up to one or two lakh. Sharma had taken his (Karan Rajput) life’s entire responsibility. | |||
| In the currently ongoing investigation, it should be possible to | |||
| trace how this money was paid - if indeed payments were made by cheque, it should | |||
| be easy to trace. Also, Venod Sharma's mobile phone number was found among | |||
| the numbers listed on Karan Rajput's mobile; these calls could also be traced. | |||
| Another witness, the electrician | |||
| Shivdas Yadav, was standing behind the bar when the murder occurred. | |||
| In his initial statement, subsequently retracted, he |
In his initial statement, subsequently retracted, he also claimed to have | ||
| the murder |
witnessed the murder by Manu. | ||
| At some point before the trial, Shivdas also | |||
| ⚫ | when a journalist from Tehelka called |
||
| came into some money with which and opened an electrician's business | |||
| ⚫ | posing to be Jessica Lal's grieving sister, |
||
| in ]. | |||
| ⚫ | Recently, when a journalist from Tehelka called Shivdas | ||
| ⚫ | posing to be Jessica Lal's grieving sister, Shivdas admitted | ||
| <ref name=tehelka /> that his initial confession, and that of | <ref name=tehelka /> that his initial confession, and that of | ||
| the others, were all true |
the others, were all true, and that he was scared of what might happen | ||
| to him were he to tell the truth. | |||
| Another witness, |
Another witness, Shyan Munshi, who was serving behind the | ||
| bar with Jessica, had signed an affidavit with the police witnessing | bar with Jessica, had signed an affidavit with the police witnessing | ||
| the murder. However, in court he said that he did not know Hindi and | the murder. However, in court he said that he did not know Hindi and | ||
| Line 110: | Line 143: | ||
| :Munshi : There is a minor difference between grammar of Hindi and Bengali. Like in Hindi word `car’ is feminine gender while in Bengali it’s neutral gender. | :Munshi : There is a minor difference between grammar of Hindi and Bengali. Like in Hindi word `car’ is feminine gender while in Bengali it’s neutral gender. | ||
| Shyan was also recently detained while trying to leave the country illegally. | |||
| The courts have taken up the case again, but it is not clear where it will | The courts have taken up the case again, but it is not clear where it will | ||
| go now. |
go now. | ||
| ===Venod Sharma Resigns=== | ===Venod Sharma Resigns=== | ||
Revision as of 05:40, 8 October 2006
Manu Sharma (b. 1977) is widely believed to have murdered Indian model and documentary filmmaker Jessica Lal in a crowded bar early in the morning of April 29, 1999. Despite dozens of witnesses, Sharma was acquitted of all charges, along with seven other well-connected defendants by judge S.L. Bhayana on February 21, 2006.
Sharma is the son of leading Haryana politician Venod Sharma of the Indian Congress Party. Venod Sharma has was a minister in the central Narasimha Rao cabinet, and at the time of the crime, was Power minister for the state of Haryana. The family is related to ex-president Shankar Dayal Sharma and owns a number of sugar mills and entertainment businesses in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
The murder
Seven days after the murder, Manu confessed to the police, giving this reason for the murder:
- "The idea was generally to shoot her because it was so embarrassing that she said that even if you give me Rs 1000, you will not get even a sip of my drink. So I thought I will just shoot somebody. I pointed towards her a little and fired."
A number of eye witnesses made initial statements that corroborated with this confession. A consistent story emerged: Jessical Lal had rebuffed Manu's request for a drink. A powerful politician's son, Manu was unaccustomed to being denied. So he brought out his 0.22 pistol from his pocket, and fired one shot into the air, and the second straight at Jessica's head, killing her in an instant.
However, all these statements, as well as Manu's own confession, were later retracted in court, or were thrown out due to procedural reasons.
Media Pressure
The acquittal was particularly noteworthy because the murder had been committed in the presence of dozens of people at the bar of the Tamarind Court Cafe restaurant in Delhi. Most of the witnesses who had originally claimed to have seen Manu Sharma shoot Jessica turned hostile during the protracted court case, and it appears likely that the forensic evidence related to the spent shells was doctored by the police, since two cartridges sent for testing turned out to have been fired from different guns. In view of the fact that the weapon was never recovered, other police officers themselves questioned as to why the bullets were at all sent for testing.
Not many people in Chandigarh are surprised at the acquittal of this allegedly high profile criminal. Till a few days before the judgement, 29-year-old Manu was seen attending parties in the town, and running his popular disco-cum-pub, Blue Ice, in Chandigarh’s posh Sector 17 market. He has a reputation for throwing well-organised parties in and around the town.
The Sharma family is known for manipulating and ‘managing’ things, a claim backed by reports of Manu getting into several brawls in recent years, with the family intervening in each instance to prevent any case from being registered. A Congress councillor in Chandigarh said that a compromise would be worked out in most cases. Soon after he was released on bail in 2003, there was a fight between employees of Blue Ice and some customers; Manu too was reportedly involved, but eventually, he was taken out of the case and the disco’s manager was booked instead.
Cover-Up
Sharma was acquitted of all charges in February 2006, causing widespread outrage in India. The President, Abdul Kalam, and others were appealed to so that the case could be reopened, since it appeared to be a clear case of brazen misuse of power and influence by persons in high places. Even in the venal atmosphere of the criminal justice system in India where the art of buying/ intimidating/ cajoling witnesses and bribing investigating policemen is well known, the circumstances are by many deemed too shocking. Subsequently a new case has been filed and Manu is currently being tried.
In the original trial, very few would come forward to depose. Eyewitnesses who initially claimed to have seen the murder, such as Shyan Munshi, Karan Rajput and Shivdas Yadav, all turned hostile. Increasingly, revelations in the media have been piecing together the story of the pressure, bribery and coercion that led to this reversal.
In July-September 2006, the magazine Tehelka carried out a three month long sting operation against these three key witnesses, which was aired in a leading Hindi News channel, leading to increasing furore.
One of the key witnesses was Karan Rajput, who was present at the restaurant to borrow money from his nephew, Jitendra, the manager at the bar. Rajput who had long been an alcoholic, was asked by his nephew to sit at a chair which happened to be facing the bar where Shayan and Jessica were making drinks. After the murder, Karan initially claimed that he had witnessed how a boy in a white T-shirt came up to the bar and shot Jessica. However, in the court testimony, he turned hostile, denying that he had been there at all.
After the incident Karan Rajput lived a life of parties and drinking bouts - although he had no job or other visible means of income. In January 2005, he died of cirrhosis of the liver. The Tehelka expose revealed that Karan Rajput was a regular visitor to Venod Sharma's offices in Chandigarh and Okhla, Delhi where he would collect money. Friends and drinking buddies who would go with him mention a total figure between Rs. 20 Lakhs and Rs. 35 lakhs (at a salary of Rs. 10,000 p.m., this is more than twenty year's wages). Here is part of the conversation that the Tehelka reporter had with a friend of Karan:
- Surendra: I saw him taking receiving money at Okhla.
- Question: Where at Okhla?
- Surendra: From Sharma’s place. In front of Okhla depot there is a building. Sharma owns entire building. We used to collect money from there itself.
- Question: How much money?
- Surendra: Whatever we needed?
- Question: Whatever you say!
- Surendra: Whatever we demand. We used to get 20 25 thousand every month just like that. His number is in mamu’s ( Karan Rajput) diary.
- ...
- Question: Would you accompany Rajput when he used to go to collect money ?
- Surendra: Yes.
- Question: How would they pay, cheque or cash?
- Surendra: Cheque.
- Question: How much money would come?
- Surendra: They gave twice in Nepal.
- Question: When you would go to Okhla was the amount fixed?
- Surendra: Later they fixed it at 20 thousand. Initially he would 60 thousand sometime up to one or two lakh. Sharma had taken his (Karan Rajput) life’s entire responsibility.
In the currently ongoing investigation, it should be possible to trace how this money was paid - if indeed payments were made by cheque, it should be easy to trace. Also, Venod Sharma's mobile phone number was found among the numbers listed on Karan Rajput's mobile; these calls could also be traced.
Another witness, the electrician Shivdas Yadav, was standing behind the bar when the murder occurred. In his initial statement, subsequently retracted, he also claimed to have witnessed the murder by Manu. At some point before the trial, Shivdas also came into some money with which and opened an electrician's business in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, when a journalist from Tehelka called Shivdas posing to be Jessica Lal's grieving sister, Shivdas admitted that his initial confession, and that of the others, were all true, and that he was scared of what might happen to him were he to tell the truth.
Another witness, Shyan Munshi, who was serving behind the bar with Jessica, had signed an affidavit with the police witnessing the murder. However, in court he said that he did not know Hindi and could not tell what he had signed - and then he changed the story entirely. Subsequently it turned out that he had acted in a number of hindi-speaking films. When a reporter posing as a casting director for a foreign film venture approached him, he was very candid about knowing Hindi well.:
- Munshi : There is a minor difference between grammar of Hindi and Bengali. Like in Hindi word `car’ is feminine gender while in Bengali it’s neutral gender.
Shyan was also recently detained while trying to leave the country illegally.
The courts have taken up the case again, but it is not clear where it will go now.
Venod Sharma Resigns
On October 6, 2006, Venod Sharma, under increasing pressure in parliament for having shielded his son, especially after the Tehelka expose, resigned from the Congress ministry in Haryana.
References
- ^ "Jessica case: Venod Sharma quits Haryana ministry". NDTV. 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ "English Translation of the transcript of the news expose "Case Ke Kaatil", produced by Tehelka, and aired on Star News". Star News/Tehelka. 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- Vineet Khare and Harinder Baweja. "Killers of Justice". Retrieved 2006-10-06.
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