A special CBI court on Friday cleared actor Sooraj Pancholi of the charge of abetting the suicide of actor Jiah Khan in 2013 due to “paucity of evidence”.
Khan had died by suicide at her Juhu home on June 3, 2013. Pancholi was facing the charge under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
Pancholi, who was her boyfriend, was arrested and charged with abetment to suicide on the basis of a six-page letter purportedly written by the dead actor.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court judge A S Sayyad said that due to paucity of evidence, the court can’t hold Sooraj Pancholi guilty, hence acquitted.
A S Sayyad had last week heard the final arguments of both sides and reserved his judgment in the case.
Jiah was found dead at her Juhu home in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Jiah was stated to be in a relationship with Sooraj — the son of veteran actor-couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab.
Police later arrested Sooraj based on a six-page letter, purportedly written by the Bollywood starlet, and booked him for abetment of suicide under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 306.
Sooraj is currently out on bail in the case.
The note narrated Jiah Khan’s “intimate relationship, physical abuse, and mental and physical torture” allegedly at the hands of Sooraj.
The case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said that it did not have the jurisdiction over the case as the central agency had probed it.
The prosecution in the case had examined 22 witnesses, including Jiah’s mother Rabia, while Advocate Prashant Patil appeared for Sooraj.
Jiah’s mother Rabia Khan told the court that she believed it to be a case of murder and not suicide. Last year, the Bombay High Court dismissed her petition seeking a fresh investigation into the case.
During her deposition, Rabia had told the CBI court that Sooraj used to subject Jiah to physical and verbal abuse.
In his final statement filed before the court, Sooraj claimed the investigation and chargesheet were false, adding that the prosecution witnesses testified against him at the behest of complainant Rabia Khan, police and CBI.
Jiah Khan is best known for her performance in Hindi film “Nishabd” starring Amitabh Bachchan.
(With PTI inputs)
