'Lack of evidence': Actor Sooraj Pancholi acquitted in Jiah Khan suicide case

Bollywood actor Sooraj Pancholi on Friday was acquitted by a special CBI court in Jiah Khan suicide case, citing lack of evidence against him. The 25-year-old was found dead at her home in Mumbai in June 2013.

Sooraj Pancholi (32), who was arrested in the case in June 2013 and released on bail a few weeks later, was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 306 (abetment of suicide).

Judge Sayyad called Sooraj to the witness-box and asked his name. When the actor said Sooraj, the judge asked him to state his full name. The actor then replied, ''Sooraj Aditya Pancholi.'' The judge then said, ''Due to paucity of evidence, this court holds you (Sooraj) not guilty...acquitted.'' Sooraj nodded with his head down and stepped out of the witness-box.

The judge then told Rabia Khan that she could prepare an appeal against the acquittal order.

Sooraj walked out of the court premises with his mother an hour after the verdict was pronounced.

Jiah's mother Rabia Khan has been contesting the prosecution's stand that this was a case of suicide and claimed that her daughter was killed. After the court's verdict, she said the judgement was not surprising and her battle to seek justice for her daughter will continue.

Sooraj Pancholi was charged on the basis of a 6-page letter purportedly written by Jiah.

As per the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the letter, which was seized by Mumbai police that began its probe on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan.

The CBI claimed the note narrated her 'intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture' allegedly at the hands of Pancholi, which led to her committing suicide.

The case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said it did not have the jurisdiction over the case as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had probed it.

Special CBI Judge AS Sayyad, after hearing the final arguments of both the sides, last week reserved his judgement in the case for April 28.

Jiah Khan's mother Rabia Khan, a key prosecution witness in the case, told the court she believed it was a case of murder and not suicide. The Bombay High Court last year dismissed her petition seeking a fresh probe into the case.

During her deposition, Rabia Khan had told the CBI court Pancholi used to subject Jiah Khan to physical and verbal abuse. She also alleged the police and CBI had not collected legal evidence to prove her daughter had committed suicide.

Pancholi, in his final statement filed before the court, had claimed the investigation and chargesheet were false, adding prosecution witnesses had testified against him on the behest of complainant Rabia Khan, police and CBI.

Jiah Khan is best known for her performance in Amitabh Bachchan starrer 'Nishabd'.

(with PTI inputs)