A month after the High Court of Delhi ordered the immediate release of former Youth Congress leader Sushil Kumar Sharma, the convict in the Jessica Lal murder case has moved the court, seeking the same relief.

on December 21 ,2018, High court ordered Sushil Sharma's premature release after canceling the recommendations of the Sentence Review Board (SRB), which had discarded his plea to be set free after over two decades of incarceration. Seeking a similar relief, Siddhartha Vashishta, also known as Manu Sharma, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Jessica Lal in 1999, has moved the high court.

The case is likely to be heard on Monday by Justice Najmi Waziri. In his plea, Manu Sharma filed through advocate Amit Sahni, has sought setting aside of the October 4, 2018, SRB recommendation, rejecting his plea, as well as the December 7, 2018 order of the Delhi government, upholding the board's view.

As per the petition of Manu Sharma, he has served 15 years in jail without remission and over 20 years with remission and therefore, he is eligible for grant of premature release.

On April 30,1999 Manu Sharma killed Jessica Lal after she had refused to serve him liquor at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialite Bina Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in south Delhi's Mehrauli area.