Manu Sharma, also known as Siddharth Sharma, is an Indian businessman and convicted murderer who became widely known for the high-profile 1999 murder of model and celebrity barmaid Jessica Lal. Born in 1977, he is the son of former Indian politician Venod Sharma. Sharma was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and was released from prison in June 2020 on grounds of good behavior.
Quick Facts Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Siddharth Vashisht (also known as Manu Sharma, now goes by Siddharth Sharma) |
| Born | 1977, reportedly in Jalandhar/Chandigarh, India (exact birth date not publicly confirmed) |
| Age | Late 40s (as of 2026) |
| Occupation | Businessman — founder, Piccadily Distilleries; major shareholder, Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd (PAIL) |
| Wife | Preity Sharma, a Mumbai-based model (married April 2015) |
| Children | Not publicly disclosed |
| Father | Venod Sharma, former Congress and Haryana politician |
| Mother | Shakti Rani Sharma |
| Brother | Kartikeya Sharma, Rajya Sabha MP and founder of the iTV Network |
| Family background | Wealthy Haryana-Punjab business and political family with holdings in sugar mills, hotels, media, and liquor manufacturing |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | Undergraduate coursework in Commerce (Chandigarh); reportedly completed a postgraduate degree while in Tihar Jail |
| Known for | Conviction in the 1999 Jessica Lal murder case; now runs the Indri single malt whisky business |
| Released from prison | June 2020, on grounds of good behaviour, after roughly 14 years served |
Who Is Manu Sharma?
Manu Sharma, also known as Siddharth Sharma, was born in 1977 in Jalandhar, Punjab, and is currently 48 years old. He is an Indian businessman and is associated with Piccadily Distilleries, an independent Indian malt manufacturer and producer of the acclaimed Indri Single Malt Indian Whisky. He is the son of former Indian politician Venod Sharma. Sharma was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1999 murder of Jessica Lal. He was released from prison in June 2020 on grounds of good behaviour
Indri: The Whisky Brand That Changed His Story
After his release, the man once known only as a convicted killer resurfaced under a new professional identity: Siddharth Sharma, founder of Piccadily Distilleries. The family firm, Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd (PAIL), had been in the sugar and country-liquor business since the 1990s. In 2012 it opened its first malt distillery, and in 2021 — not long after his release — it launched Indri, a single malt whisky.
Indri didn’t stay a niche product. It picked up international awards and expanded fast enough that industry writers began calling it one of the fastest-growing whisky brands in the world, with reports of well over 100,000 cases sold within its first couple of years. It’s now sold in markets including the US, UK, and Australia, and the family has reportedly moved into building a distillery in Scotland as well.
Ownership-wise, the Sharma family holds roughly 71% of PAIL, and he personally holds the second-largest individual stake — reportedly around 22.73%. He’s listed as the founder of Piccadily Distilleries, which has become the company’s main revenue driver. That stake is the real financial story here, more concrete than any single net-worth figure floating around online.
Manu Sharma Net Worth: Breakdown and Timeline
Manu Sharma’s net worth is $7 million (approximately ₹58 crore). His wealth comes primarily from his business interests, including his association with Piccadily Distilleries and the Indri whisky brand.
- 1999–2013: His public and financial life effectively paused. He was in custody through trial, conviction, and years of appeals, with the family’s political and business reputation taking a hit as the case dragged through headlines and courtrooms.
- 2013–2020: While incarcerated, he was granted periods of parole and eventually moved to an “open jail” arrangement in 2017, allowing him to work outside during the day. He reportedly used part of this time productively — earning a postgraduate degree and improving output at the jail’s carpentry and bakery units as part of a prison work programme.
- 2020–2021: Released in June 2020. Within roughly a year, Indri launched under the family’s distillery arm — timing that suggests the brand had been in development well before his release.
- 2021–present: Indri’s rapid growth, combined with his personal stake in PAIL (India’s largest independent maker of malt spirits), forms the real basis of his current financial standing — a business-driven recovery rather than a single windfall.
The Jessica Lal Murder Case: What Actually Happened
On the night of April 29, 1999, at a party in an unlicensed bar in Delhi’s Mehrauli area, model and television personality Jessica Lal was working as a guest bartender. When she refused to serve Manu Sharma a drink after the bar had officially closed — even after he reportedly offered her money — he shot her at close range with a pistol. She died from the injury.
The case that followed became one of India’s most closely watched criminal trials:
- He fled the scene but later surrendered before a court in Chandigarh.
- Nine people were named as accused, including witnesses later alleged to have been influenced or bribed.
- In 2006, a trial court acquitted all the accused, citing weak and contradictory testimony — a verdict that triggered public outrage and heavy media coverage.
- Public pressure, an SMS campaign, and sustained journalism pushed the case back into the courts. A fast-tracked appeal followed.
- In December 2006, the Delhi High Court overturned the acquittal and convicted him of murder, sentencing him to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 2010.
The case became a landmark example of how sustained public and media pressure could reopen a seemingly closed prosecution in India — it later inspired the 2011 film No One Killed Jessica. Jessica Lal’s sister, Sabrina Lal, fought for the case for years and eventually stated she had forgiven him, a detail that’s often cited but doesn’t change the legal facts of the conviction itself.
Where Is He Now?
He walked out of Tihar Jail in June 2020, released early on grounds of good behaviour after serving roughly 14 years of his life sentence. Since then, he’s kept a low public profile — no verified social media presence, few interviews, and a deliberate distance from the nightlife-heavy image that defined him in the late 1990s.
Professionally, he’s active and, by most industry accounts, successful. He’s listed as the founder of Piccadily Distilleries and runs day-to-day operations tied to the Indri whisky brand, along with the broader PAIL portfolio, which also includes a newer rum line. He’s also linked to the Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust, a family-run initiative reportedly focused on child education and support for the children of prison inmates — work connected to programmes he was involved in during his incarceration.
He’s married to Preity Sharma, a Mumbai-based model, in a union registered in 2015 while he was still in custody. Beyond that, the couple has kept their personal life private, with no confirmed public details about children.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is Manu Sharma?
He’s an Indian businessman, born Siddharth Vashisht, convicted in the 1999 murder of Jessica Lal. He’s now known professionally as Siddharth Sharma and runs the Indri whisky business.
2. What is Manu Sharma’s real name now?
He goes by Siddharth Sharma professionally, though he was born Siddharth Vashisht and is publicly best known as Manu Sharma.
3. Is Manu Sharma married? Who is his wife?
Yes. His wife is Preity Sharma, a Mumbai-based model. They married in April 2015 while he was still incarcerated.
4. What is Manu Sharma’s net worth?
There’s no official, verified figure. What’s confirmed is that he holds roughly a 22.73% personal stake in Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd, the company behind Indri whisky, with the broader Sharma family holding about 71%.
5. Why was Manu Sharma released from jail?
He was released from Tihar Jail in June 2020 on grounds of good behaviour, after having served approximately 14 years of a life sentence.
6. What is Manu Sharma’s connection to Indri whisky?
He’s listed as the founder of Piccadily Distilleries, the arm of PAIL behind Indri, and holds a significant personal ownership stake in the company.
7. Was Manu Sharma ever acquitted in the Jessica Lal case?
Yes, initially. A trial court acquitted him in 2006, but the Delhi High Court overturned that decision later the same year and convicted him of murder; the Supreme Court upheld the conviction in 2010.
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