Ram Jethmalani has decided to defend Manu Sharma, accused of murdering Jessica Lal. Manu Sharma  is is the son of one of the leading politicians in the state of Haryana, Venod Sharma, belonging to the Congress Party. Here is what happened on that fateful night

On April 29, 1999, leading socialite Bina Ramani organized a party at her restaurant, Tamarind Court Cafe, in the Qutub area of South Delhi - it was to be a farewell party for her husband Georges Mailhot who was going abroad for six months. Several youngsters and models were serving drinks at the ‘Once upon a time’ bar, including Jessica Lall and her friends Malini Ramani and Shyan Munshi.

At about 0200 hours when the party was almost over, Manu Sharma with his friends Amardeep Singh, Alok Khanna, Amit Jhingan and Vikas Yadav, allegedly entered the restaurant and demanded liquor from Jessica.

Since the bar was being closed, Jessica told Sharma that no more drinks would be served. After some altercation, Sharma lost his temper and fired his gun - once in the air and the second time at Jessica. The bullet struck her temple and she died on the spot.

Sharma fled from the restaurant with his friends in a car which was later found abandoned in a Delhi suburb. During an intense hunt for Sharma over a week, three of his friends were arrested, but Sharma himself went underground. His father, Venod Sharma was asked to step down as Congress Party Chief in the state.