New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Arvind Kejriwal government's response on the 1999 Jessica Lal murder case convict Manu Sharma's plea for pre-mature release. He is serving life-term.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Brijesh Sethi asked the Delhi government to file a status report along with relevant records of the sentence review board (SRB). The court will next hear the case on March 30.

Sharma has sought setting aside of the September 19, 2019 order as the designated authority had accepted the July 19, 2019 recommendations of the SRB rejecting his plea.

In the petition, filed through advocate Amit Sahni, Sharma sought release saying the authorities rejected his plea in an unfair, arbitrary and whimsical manner. It also claimed Sharma was being victimised by the state and despite having undergone 23 years (with remission) in jail. His case has been rejected four times.

He also claimed to have received appreciations for his works through the Siddhartha Vashishtha Charitable Trust, his NGO.

"The petitioner (Sharma) has had an unblemished record throughout incarceration and there has been nothing adverse against him. His reformative actions and efforts for helping inmates' children have been appreciated by the Delhi Lt. Governor as well as the Division Bench of the Delhi HC," it said.

Manu Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was sentenced to life for killing Jessica Lal in 1999. The trial court had acquitted him, but the high court reversed the verdict and convicted him. The Supreme Court upheld the life sentence in April 2010.