The controversial judgment that involved the acquittal of Manu Sharma and 8 others in the public murder of Jessica Lal several years ago turned into a national campaign to reopen the case. There is a serious petitioning sponsored by a news channel that has started asking the President to reopen the case. Many found it appalling that someone who had killed a woman in public before scores of witnesses could walk away triumphantly in a Government-owned car. They say that he was let off the hook because he is the son of a former Federal Minister. Several are quick to fault the judge who delivered the verdict and his coincidental promotion to the High Court. The Supreme Court tersely and angrily dismissed a petition by an advocate saying, "you cannot override the collegiums of High Court and the Supreme Court, the Law Minister, the Prime Minister, and the President." Several Parliamentarians belonging to all opposition and arms-length allies of the Government have demanded that the Government reopen the case. While the Government has promised to do all it can, the sheer lack of independent investigative bodies, witness protection programs, and timely justice, it is impossible to change the verdict any more than what has been delivered.

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