Sooraj Pancholi Was Found NOT GUILTY In The Jiah Khan Suicide Case
The Special CBI court concluded the final hearing for the actor Jiah Khan court proceeding today, April 28, bringing the case’s lengthy proceedings to a close. Due to additional evidence, the prosecution had submitted early on Friday morning, the hearing that was supposed to start at 10:30 am was delayed until noon. However, the court has now rendered its decision and actor Sooraj Pancholi has been cleared of all charges relating to the suicide case.
On June 3, 2013, Jiah Khan died by suicide at her Juhu home, and Sooraj Pancholi was arrested on June 11 after being accused of abuse in a six-page note. Sooraj and his father dismissed the accusations related to Jiah Khan’s death. But Pancholi was charged under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code by Mumbai police and the trial began in 2019. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) examined 22 witnesses in the case, including Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan.
Rabia had filed multiple pleas seeking murder charges against Pancholi in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court. Despite this, the Bombay High Court cleared the Hero actor of all accusations on April 28, which means he is currently no longer under investigation.
According to reports, the court made its decision based on its paucity of evidence connecting the actor to the abetment charges. Along with his mother, the actor Zarina Wahab, the latter had arrived at the court earlier today. Sooraj Pancholi is the son of the actor Zarina Wahab and Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi. In 2015, the actor made his Bollywood debut alongside Athiya Shetty in the movie “Hero”.
Zarina Wahab had appealed just a day before, asking for prayers for her son and claiming his innocence in the matter. She stated “I am aware of my son’s innocence. We’ve been waiting for the verdict for ten years. It’s been awful for our child. We’ve always trusted that the Almighty will do right by our son.”
While several of Sooraj’s supporters spoke out in favour of the Bollywood star before the hearing, his attorney also claimed that the CBI was purposefully misleading the court.
Prashant Patil had stated to a news portal, “It is really regrettable that the CBI is deliberately using delay strategies in the case of Sooraj Pancholi Vs CBI. If the accused person is found guilty, he will be convicted, but if he is found innocent, he will be acquitted. However, the Honourable Special CBI Court’s record shows that the CBI has merely been delaying the trial. It’s sad that Sooraj Pancholi must go through a trial where deliberate delay tactics are being used, and that the media has no tolerance for waiting for the proceedings’ conclusion.”
