- Actor Jiah Khan, best known for her debut role in Amitabh Bachchan starrer Nishabd, died by suicide at her Juhu home on June 3, 2013.
- Sooraj Pancholi was arrested on the basis of a note written by the actor, in which Jiah wrote about the “trauma and abuse” suffered at the hands of her “lover”, without mentioning any name .
- High Court had stayed the trial against Pancholi before the lower court and the State government had sought for charges of murder and rape to be levied upon the actor.
- A special CBI court cleared actor Sooraj Pancholi of the charge of abetting the suicide of actor Jiah Khan in 2013 due to lack of evidence.
A special CBI court cleared actor Sooraj Pancholi of the charge of abetting the suicide of actor Jiah Khan in 2013 due to lack of evidence. Pancholi has been out on bail since 2013. The court told Jiah’s mother Rabiya Khan she can appeal against the acquittal in Bombay High Court.
As per the charge sheet by the CBI, Jiah’s mother found Jiah dead at her residence. It was after Jiah had left Pancholi’s house that morning. The two had been staying together for the past two days. Pancholi was arrested on charges of abetment of suicide a week after Jiah’s death and was granted bail by the High Court in a week.
On February 25, 2016, the High Court had stayed the trial against Pancholi before the lower court and the State government had sought for charges of murder and rape to be levied upon the actor. On February 15, 2016, Khan, had moved High Court against the investigation report by CBI terming her daughter’s death as suicidal and not homicidal which was dismissed the court.
Earlier on, Juhu Police which was investigating the case had said Jiah ended her life because Pancholi broke the relationship with her and that her career was not going anywhere. The advocate said that there were messages exchanged between Jiah and Pancholi which were deleted by him and were not relied upon by the CBI.
Actor Jiah Khan, best known for her debut role in Amitabh Bachchan starrer Nishabd, died by suicide at her Juhu home on June 3, 2013. On June 11, actor Sooraj Pancholi was arrested on the basis of a six-page note written by the actor. In the note, Jiah wrote about the “trauma and abuse” suffered at the hands of her “lover”, without mentioning any name in the letter. After Khan’s death, her mother and other relatives accused Sooraj of “not respecting Jiah” and “using foul language, hitting her”. These accusations were dismissed by Sooraj and his father, actor Aditya Pancholi.
Pancholi was charged under section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. The trial in the case began in 2019. The prosecuting agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, examined 22 witnesses in the case, including Khan’s mother Rabia and her sisters.
Notably, Rabia had sought for Pancholi to face charges of murder, claiming that Khan had not died by suicide. She filed multiple pleas in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court to this effect.
The Bombay High Court has dismissed the plea filed by late actor Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan seeking a fresh probe into the actor’s death in 2013 claiming that it was not a suicide but a homicide.
A division Bench of justices AS Gadkari and MN Jamdar, which heard the plea on September 12, said, “Repeated insistence of the petitioner to procure a finding from the court that death of the victim , in this case, was homicidal and not suicidal is a clear indication of procrastinating the trial.
(With inputs from agencies)
