A Special CBI court in Mumbai on today acquitted actor Sooraj Pancholi from charges of abetting suicide of actor Jiah Khan. Jiah Khan was found dead at her suburban home on June 3, 2013.
Special CBI court judge AS Sayyad, while pronouncing the verdict, said due to lack of evidence, the court holds Pancholi not guilty. Sooraj, the son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was present in the court with his mother at the time of the verdict.
Sooraj Pancholi was accused of abetting the suicide of Jiah Khan based on a six-page letter, which was purportedly written by Khan who was found hanging at her residence.
As per the Central Bureau of Investigation, the letter, which was seized by Mumbai police that began its probe on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan. The Mumbai Police booked Sooraj for abetment to suicide and arrested him in June 2013, releasing him on bail in July 2013.
The CBI claimed the note narrated her 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. On the order of the Bombay High Court, the CBI took over the probe from the Maharashtra Police in July 2014.