Jiah Khan suicide: Sooraj's lawyers move HC

Mumbai, June 27: Lawyers of Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, moved the Bombay High Court on Wednesday challenging the lower court's order. Sooraj, 22, was arrested on June 10 for allegedly abetting the suicide of his girlfriend Jiah Khan, a Bollywood actor.

The sessions court had rejected Sooraj's application on June 21 after observing that the FIR and probe reports clearly suggested that Jiah was continuously subjected to ill-treatment by the accused.

Ashok Mundgeri and Shrikant Shivde, lawyers of the accused, challenged the order claiming that the Juhu police had initially filed an Accident Death Report and Sooraj was implicated a week later.

They alleged that it was an "after thought," and said Sooraj's arrest was based on undated letters that surfaced a few days after Jiah's death. Her mother Rabiya had handed them over the police.

In a six-page letter allegedly written by Jiah, she had allegedly spoken of torture and abortion. The police were using the letter as a dying declaration to charge Sooraj.

But his lawyers countered that the letter did not mention about the date of the abuse and did not make any mention that Sooraj was responsible for the crime. They also claimed that the handwriting in the letter and Jiah's signature were different.

The sessions court, although rejected Sooraj's bail application, admitted that it was difficult to confirm the authenticity of the letter.

The high court will hear the application on July 5.

Spooraj's judicial custody was extended till July 11 later on Thursday.

OneIndia News