INDIA: A special CBI court set actor Sooraj Pancholi free of the charges linked to the suicide case of Jiah Khan Khan in 2013 due to “paucity of evidence”.
Bollywood actress Jiah Khan committed suicide at her Juhu residence on June 3, 2013. A 6-page note by the actress was recovered, on its basis, Sooraj Pancholi has since been charged under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
Now, Judge AS Sayyed of the special CBI court, in his order, said, “Due to paucity of evidence, this court can’t hold you (Sooraj Pancholi) guilty, hence acquitted.”
The hearing started, and soon after that, the court put a hold on the order by about two hours after the complainant, Jiah’s mother, Rabia Khan, wanted to file written arguments.
She stated, “The charge of aiding and abetting suicide has been dropped. But what happened to my child? This is a murder case…will petition the High Court.”
Jiah’s justice was sought in a number of earlier petitions submitted to the courts, including the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. The petitions insisted that Pancholi be charged with murder. Rabia Khan also claimed that Jiah Khan had been murdered by the well-known actor rather than committing suicide.
22 witnesses in the case were therefore questioned by the central investigation agency, including Rabia Khan and her sisters. CBI court declared that, as per the probe, there was no proof of murder and that Khan had died by suicide.
The defence lawyer of Sooraj, Prashant Patil, had claimed that the actor is innocent and the CBI was unable to find him guilty. He also added that Sooraj didn’t commit the offence he was charged with.
Sooraj Pancholi said, “My relationship with Nafisa (Khan’s real name) was good throughout”. He stated, “I am not responsible for Nafisa’s death.”
As Section 306 of the IPC states, “Any person who abets the commission of suicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either kind for a term that may extend to ten years, as well as a fine.”
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