Almost 10 years later, the verdict of the Jiah Khan case has been pronounced. Sooraj Pancholi has been acquitted of all charges, due to ‘paucity of evidence’ the special CBI court Judge AS Sayyed said. Here is what has happened in the decade since.
Nafisa Rizvi Khan, better known as Jiah Khan was an American-born Indian actor who worked in some Hindi films from 2007-2010. She made her film debut in 2007 alongside Amitabh Bachchan. Sooraj Pancholi was a film director in movies like Guzaarish (2010) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012).
Jiah Khan was found dead in her Mumbai home in Juhu, on June 3, 2013. A day after this, her mother alleged that she was murdered. A week later, her ex-boyfriend, Sooraj Pancholi was arrested based on a six-page suicide note found in her apartment. He was charged with abetment (aiding) to suicide, under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). After spending less than a month in jail, Sooraj was granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
Jiah’s mother, Rabia Khan was a key witness for the prosecution. She had requested a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into her daughter’s suicide, as she claimed that Jiah was physically and verbally abused by Sooraj, who had claimed that he had had a good relationship with Jiah.
In 2016 the CBI ruled out any foul play in Jiah’s death. In February 2017, the CBI was against Rabia Khan petitioning the Bombay High Court for a Special Investigative Team (SIT) probe into Jiah Khan’s death.
In 2021, the sessions court said that it did not have any jurisdiction in the case after the CBIs probe. A year later, Rabia Khan petitioned the court once more as she sought to have a fresh investigation into her daughter’s suicide. She insisted that Sooraj should be charged with murder. She is still determined to fight for justice for her daughter and will approach the Supreme Court too, if necessary.
#WATCH | Actor Sooraj Pancholi leaves for CBI court in Mumbai for a verdict in the suicide case of actor Jiah Khan, who was found dead in her suburban home on June 3, 2013. Sooraj Pancholi is accused of abetting the suicide of Jiah Khan. pic.twitter.com/9jaVBxLRxV
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2023
In April of this year, a special CBI court heard the arguments on both sides. In Sooraj Pancholi’s final statement in the court, he claimed that the charge sheet and investigation were false. Sooraj Pancholi said that he is not responsible for Jiah’s death.
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