A special court on Thursday rejected a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a further probe in actor Jiah Khan’s suicide case, Hindustan Times reported.
Actor Sooraj Pancholi is currently on trial for allegedly abetting Khan’s suicide in 2013.
The report states that the CBI had filed the plea in December 2019 seeking permission from the court to send a dupatta, allegedly used by Jiah to hang herself, to the Central Forensic Laboratory at Chandigarh for further analysis.
The agency also wanted to send seized cellphones to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US to retrieve “deleted” chats between Khan and Pancholi, the report further states. The plea from the CBI stated that the messages exchanged between Khan and Pancholi immediately before her death, along with the GPS location, are relevant for further investigations in the case. It argued that it was therefore necessary to send both the cellphones to the Forensic Unit of the FBI for examination.
Pancholi’s lawyer Prashant Patila argued that the Bombay High Court had earlier rejected a similar plea filed by Khan’s mother Rabia Khan in 2017 and the special court ruled in his favour on Thursday.
Khan was found dead in her apartment in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Initially suspected to be a death by suicide, further investigations pointed towards the involvement of Panchali, who was then dating the actor. On June 7, the police recovered a note written by Khan talking about her troubled relationship with Panchali. Following further investigations, Panchali was arrested on June 10, 2013, in the case. The trial began in March 2019.
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Pancholi was granted interim bail by the High Court after a month. In October 2013, Khan’s mother filed a plea to initiate a CBI probe into the death. Following that, in July 2014, the Bombay High Court asked CBI to start a probe. Based on their investigations, the CBI on 2 August 2016, told the Bombay High Court that it was a clear case of suicide, and not murder.
The trial is still underway.
If you or someone you know is in need of support for suicidal thoughts or behaviour, please reach out to the following helpline numbers:
AASRA- 24×7 Helpline (Hindi and English): +91-9820466726
KIRAN- 24×7 Helpline: 1800-599-0019