No bail for Manu Sharma

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court onTuesday rejected Jessica Lall murder case main accused Manu Sharma’s pleafor bail and observed that in present day society, even if a murder takes placebefore a large gathering, no one comes forward to help theprosecution.A Bench of Justices N Santosh and B P Singh refused tointerfere with a Delhi High Court order dismissing his bail plea.Manu hadbeen out on interim bail in the case since January 25,2002.Sharma’s counsel Ram Jethmalani said that the petitioner‘‘has done nothing to warrant cancellation of the interim bailgranted to him for the last one year’’.He said thepetitioner was entitled to bail as the prosecution was in no position to provehis guilt in the case pertaining to the killing of the ramp model at TamarindCourt restaurant in south Delhi as none of the witnesses supported the policecase.At this point, the Bench observed: ‘‘In thissociety, it is a big problem. There are people watching the incident and yetnobody comes forward to support the prosecution.’’WhenJethmalani asserted that three different judges of the high court had grantedinterim bail to Sharma and there was no occasion for the fourth judge to rejectit, the Bench asked: ‘‘In a murder case of this nature, why was bailgranted at all?’’The high court had dismissedSharma’s bail plea on November 11. He surrendered before the trial courton November 13, two days after the high court rejected his application forregular bail.The high court had said: ‘‘There is a longchain of circumstantial evidence, linking the accused with the crime, which isinconsistent with his innocence and consistent with his guilt.’’