Almost a decade after actress Jiah Khan’s death, a special CBI court in Mumbai acquitted Sooraj Pancholi of abetment charges today. “Due to paucity of evidence, this court can’t hold you (Sooraj Pancholi) guilty, hence acquitted,” said judge AS Sayyed while pronouncing the verdict. Meanwhile, reacting to the verdict, Jiah Khan’s mother told CNN News18 that she will continue to fight for justice for her late daughter. “I will not give hope, will keep fighting,” she told us and added that she will also approach High Court or Supreme Court if required.
The news of Jiah Khan’s death, in 2013, left the entire entertainment fraternity in a state of shock. Her ex-boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, was charged with abetment to suicide after a six-page letter by Jiah revealed that she had undergone an abortion.
“There was a time I saw my life with you, a future with you. But you shattered my dreams. I feel dead inside. I’ve never given so much of myself to someone or cared so much. You returned my love with cheating and lies,” she wrote in the letter. A decade after her demise, a special CBI court acquitted Sooraj of the charges of abetting the suicide of the actress.
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Here’s taking a quick look at what unfolded in the decade after her death.
2013
Jiah Khan was found dead on June 3, 2013, at her home in Mumbai’s Juhu. Just weeks later, Sooraj Pancholi was booked for “abetment to suicide” on the basis of the six-page letter recovered from Jiah Khan’s house, which was later released to the media. Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia, a key prosecution witness in the case, told the court her daughter’s death was a murder, not suicide. The autopsy report confirmed the cause of death to be hanging, without foul play. In July, Sooraj Pancholi was granted bail but was asked to surrender his passport. Later, he was also acquitted of any involvement in Jiah Khan’s death. In October, Rabia pleaded the court for an elaborate CBI probe in the case.
2014
Almost after a year, in July, the court accepted Rabia’s plea asking the CBI to take over the investigation from Mumbai Police. In the same month, Aditya Pancholi filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Rabia.
2015
In the month of May, Sooraj Pancholi’s house was raided by CBI, and a month later, he was also called for questioning. In December, a supplementary chargesheet is filed against Sooraj Pancholi for abetting Khan’s suicide.
2016
In August, CBI ruled out any possibility of murder confirming hanging as the cause of Jiah Khan’s death. Just a month later, Rabia hired a British forensic expert Jason Payne-James who alleged the death was “staged”. Aditya Pancholi refuted Payne-James’s conclusion.
2017
In February, the court rejected Rabia’s plea against the CBI inquiry and her demand of forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to take over the case. In September, Rabia also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek justice for her daughter. A month later, Sooraj Pancholi requested the Bombay High Court for expediting the trial.
2018
A special CBI court rejected a plea for further investigation against Sooraj Pancholi. Meanwhile, the actor also broke his silence on the matter. Speaking to Hindustan Times he said, “I knew that there was something I was going to be charged with but I’m ready for any charge against me, because until I have a charge, I cannot defend myself. I have lost my 20s in this bargain, but I don’t want to feel like a victim. I don’t want any sympathy. I just want my trial to be fair, whether it goes against me or in my favour.”
2021
Jiah Khan’s case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court claimed it did not have jurisdiction after the CBI probe.
2022
The Bombay High Court dismissed another petition from Rabia seeking a fresh investigation of the case.
2023
Final arguments completed in the case on April 20. On Friday, April 28, Sooraj was acquitted by a special CBI court in the case, citing lack of evidence against him.
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