Mumbai Court acquits Sooraj Pancholi of abetting suicide of Jiah Khan

A Mumbai court on Friday acquitted Bollywood star Sooraj Pancholi of aiding and abetting the 2013 suicide of model and actress Jiah Khan. Special Judge AS Sayyad pronounced the verdict today after reserving the case for hearing on April 20. Pancholi was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

On 3 June 2013, Khan was found hanging from the ceiling by her mother Rabia Khan. The actress reportedly wrote a 6-page letter describing her tumultuous relationship with Pancholi.Based on this, Pancholi was charged with abetment of suicide and arrested by the Mumbai Police. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on 1 July 2013.

Khan's mother Rabia then petitioned the Bombay High Court to hand over the investigation to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). She claimed that her daughter did not die by suicide, but was murdered.

In 2014, the High Court transferred the investigation to the CBI. Subsequently, a special CBI judge came to hear the case. The trial in the case began in March 2019. In its chargesheet filed in December 2015, the CBI charged Pancholi with abetting suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.

Pancholi's lawyer Prashant Patil approached the special court in January 2023 in an attempt to speed up the trial by summoning witnesses. He argued that the CBI had produced only 14 witnesses and the case was pending since 2014. He said the delay in the trial was causing hardship to Pancholi.

The trial was accelerated on January 21, 2023, when 3 witnesses remained to be heard - two investigators and an expert.