Jiah case: Bombay HC grants interim stay against Sooraj

The Bombay high court on Thursday granted an interim stay on trial against actor Sooraj Pancholi in the Jiah Khan suicide case, following a petition by Rabia Khan, mother of Jiah Khan, against Central Bureau of Investigation’s report categorising Jiah’s death on June 3, 2013 as suicidal and not homicidal. A division bench of justices R.V. More and V.L. Achiliya on Thursday stayed trial in the case and directed the CBI to file its affidavit in reply to the petition, in two weeks.

Rabia Khan has sought formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) and monitoring of the investigation by HC. Her petition pointed out various alleged anomalies in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in December last year. The petition also seeks directions to enable the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist the SIT as Jiah was a US citizen, and seeks a probe “in the alleged role of erring police officers who have helped the accused by sabotaging the matter”.

Jiah’s boyfriend-actor Sooraj Pancholi was arrested for allegedly abetting her suicide on June 10, 2013, but released on July 2 the same year after the HC granted him bail.

After Jiah was found dead, Mumbai police had registered the case of suicide. However, her mother had approached the court claiming that her daughter was murdered and the investigation of the case should be handed over to the CBI.

Accepting Rabia Khan’s plea, the Bombay high court in July last year handed over investigation into Jiah’s death to Central Bureau of Investigation. However, the CBI has also maintained that Jiah committed suicide and it was not homicide.

Actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab’s son Sooraj is facing charge of abetment to suicide in this matter, while Jiah’s mother Rabiya is still maintaining that someone killed her daughter and the police should find out who is behind her murder.

The petition alleged that the CBI concluded in haste that the case was that of suicide, it did not bother to counter-question the concerned people, and it did not bother getting important evidence on record. “The CBI has not concluded the investigation in its real spirit and have closed the investigation without making any serious efforts to unearth the issues as are involved in the death of the deceased. In fact, they have been misleading both the petitioner and the US Consulate about the direction of the investigation,” the petition alleged. The case was transferred to CBI by the HC in July 2014 on Rabia’s petition.