The Sentence Review Board (SRB), which is headed by the Delhi Home Minister, rejected the release of the accused in the Jessica Lal and Priyadarishini Matoo cases, on Friday.
In April 2018, Sabrina Lal, sister of Jessica Lal, in a letter to the welfare office of Central Jail, Tihar, had mentioned that she had no objection to the release of Siddharth Vashishta alias Manu Sharma as he has spent 15 years in prison. Manu is serving life imprisonment in the murder case. It is the second time the SRB has rejected the premature plea of Sharma.
The SRB also rejected the request of premature release of Santosh Kumar Singh, who is serving life term for the 1996 rape and murder of law student Priyadarshini Mattoo.
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According to Delhi government sources, a total number of 205 cases were considered by the seven-member Board which, apart from the Delhi Home Minister, also consists of a District and Sessions Court judge, a Joint Commissioner of the Delhi Police, the Home Secretary, the Law Secretary, the Director General of Prisons and an external expert.
“Of the total number of cases considered by it, the Board was of the view that release be recommended in 59 cases and 145 cases were rejected. One case which was on the list is undergoing adjudication in the Supreme Court so it was not considered by the Board,” a Delhi government source said.