Jessica Lal case: A refresher

It’s a well-known and well-covered case that made headlines for over a decade—and inspired a blockbuster film. So we’re not laying out every detail. Here’s a big-picture overview plus timeline.

The killing: Here’s what happened on April 30, 1999, according to a taped confession by Manu Sharma—recorded seven days after the killing. Sharma and his friends were at the Qutub Colonnade—a restaurant/bar owned by a socialite Bina Ramani. Lall was serving drinks as the bartender. Then this happened:

Around 2 am, I went to the restaurant inside and asked for more whisky. Malini Ramani, Jessica Lal and five to six people were standing there; they told me ‘whisky is finished’. I felt bad. I took out my pistol and fired one bullet at the ceiling and another at Jessica Lal which hit her above her left eye.

He claims to have fired his gun as a “challenge”—and didn’t realise that he had killed her until later. 

The politics of murder: Sharma’s father—Venod Sharma—was a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha between 1992 and 1998. He was indisputably powerful: 

Venod Sharma has served thrice as a Congress MLA in the Haryana Assembly, but he can brag of links to some of the country's biggest leaders. His father was close to Indira Gandhi. He is also related to Shankar Dayal Sharma, a former President. Many expected him to become Haryana's chief minister.

Point to note: Manu Sharma was also in the company of Vikas Yadav—who helped cover up the crime. His father DP Yadav was also a powerful UP neta—who himself has been charged in a number of murder cases. Vikas would go on to kill a businessman named Nitish Katara in 2002—in yet another headline-making case.

The conviction: Thanks to all the political heavyweights involved—many witnesses turned hostile—and Sharma was acquitted in February 2006. But thanks to media and public outrage, he was finally convicted on appeal by the High Court in December of the same year—and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Charmed life behind bars: Sharma’s political connections continued to serve him well—even in prison. He managed to get seven paroles between his conviction in 2006 and 2017—flaunting both his freedom and sense of impunity: 

Sharma was granted parole to write exams, attend his brother marriage and his grandmother’s funeral. tIn between, there were allegations of Sharma stepping out of jail and visiting a hotel owned by his family that’s located near Tihar Jail.

During one such parole—personally recommended by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit—he got into a brawl at a bar owned by Arjun Rampal. 

The many gifts of mercy: Sharma was finally set free in 2020—after 14 years in prison—for “good behaviour.” His release was approved by BJP-appointed LG Anil Baijal—testimony to the enduring power of the Sharma khandaan. The Board that recommended his release was headed by the Delhi Home Minister—AAP leader Satyendra Kumar Jain. At the time of his release, the good man had enjoyed 12 stretches of parole and 24 furloughs.

From convicted killer to liquor baron…

After his release, Manu Sharma quickly rebranded himself as Siddharth Sharma—which is an iteration of the name given at birth: Siddharth Vashisht. And like all good Indian boys, he went back to the family business: the Piccadily Group, a conglomerate of liquor companies, chain of hotels—and print, digital and television media brands.

Say hello to Piccadily: The company was first named Kedar Nath and Sons—founded in 1953 by KN Sharma in Punjab—where it enjoyed a monopoly over the state’s liquor contracts. Then came restaurants, movie theatres and hotels—spreading in the 1970s from Punjab to nearby Manali, Raipur, Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon. It now encompasses the iTV media group (News X, Sunday Guardian etc)—owned and run by independent Rajya MP Kartikeya Sharma—who is none other than Manu’s chhota bhai. His mummy Shakti Rani Sharma is now a BJP MLA.

The Sharma booze business: is called Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd (PAIL)—incorporated in 1994 when the company first got into the liquor manufacturing business. But it was only producing sugar and desi tharra—until 2012, when it opened the first malt distillery. Piccadily Distilleries is now the largest independent manufacturer and seller of malt spirits in India. Its most prestigious offering is the single malt whiskey Indri—launched in 2021 (soon after Manu’s release). They have now expanded into Camikara Rum. Overall, the family holds around 71% of PAIL. Manu personally owns the second largest stake in PAIL—22.73%. More importantly, Manu is listed as the founder of Piccadily Distilleries—which is now the main moneymaker for PAIL. Business is booming.

Below is an overview of the growth trajectory of Piccadily’s distillery business:

A very Scottish scandal

Ever since his prison release, Manu Sharma has been dining out on PR in the Indian biz magazines—with nary a mention of his remarkable backstory. This includes the coverage of the company’s expansion into Scotland. In November of last year, Forbes India carried this fawning interview—to promote Piccadily Agro Industries Limited’s “ambitious ₹1000 crore expansion plan”—including the “establishment of its first international distillery in Portavadie, Scotland.” The glowing piece was accompanied by a glowing Manu Sharma—with nary a word about his very recent past:

Scots are not amused: Unhappily for Sharma, Scottish papers took a far dimmer view of his backstory. In December, the Sunday Post published a detailed investigation—”exposing” Sharma’s links to the £15 million project—to build a state-of-the-art distillery in Portavadie. Now that doesn’t seem like a ‘gotcha’. But here’s the interesting bit: Piccadily is very open about owning the Scottish distillery in the Indian media—but flatly denies it in the Sunday Post reporting.  

Who owns Portavadie? The license for the project has been given to PAIL—which is also investing the paisa. The Indian company, however, told the Post that the completed distillery will be owned and operated solely by an independent company called Portavadie Distillers and Blenders Ltd. But, but, but, according to the Sunday Post: “We found Portavadie Distillers and Blenders is being run in-part by director Dharmendra Kumar Batra—who is also a director of PAIL and one of the most senior figures on its board.” More notably: all publicly available information suggests PAIL acquired Portavadie Distillers back in 2021.  

Why so coy, Piccadily? Turns out, discretion may indeed turn out to be the better part of financial valour. The Manu Sharma connection is proving to be a liability—not in India—but thousands of miles away from the bar where he killed Jessica Lal. The Sunday Post report has sparked outrage among Scottish politicians—who want answers—and “a high bar for anyone to get involved in a multi-billion-pound enterprise”:

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie has written to James Murray, exchequer secretary to the Treasury urging him to explain what investigation, if any, was carried out into the source of the investment before a licence was granted… Bowie’s letter is the latest example in a growing list of politicians calling on HMRC to set out what it knew, and what it intends to do now.

For its part, PAIL issued this carefully worded rebuttal: 

Abhishek Haryson, assistant general manager of marketing at PAIL, said.. promoters and directors of PAIL have a clean business record with no history of involvement in any commercial fraud or unethical business practices. He added: “Consequently, none of our promoters or directors are subject to any regulatory bars or embargoes that would restrict their ability to engage in legitimate business activities.”

Not a word here about criminal records—clean or otherwise.

The bottomline: He shot her for not serving him whiskey. 

Reading list

Sunday Post has been on the ball investigating Manu’s moves in the Scotch industry, as well as reactions in Scotland to the Portavadie development. Capital Mind and Business Standard have the nerdy details on Piccadily’s growth and investments, while Forbes India has the fawning profile—with any references to his crimes airbrushed out. For more on the murder of Jessical Lal, check out this excerpt in Scroll from Amod K Kanth’s ‘Khaki on Broken Wings’ and Yashovardhan Azad’s commentary in Economic Times.