A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on Friday acquitted actor Sooraj Pancholi of abatement charges in Jiah Khan's suicide case after almost 10 years.
Reacting to the acquittal Sooraj said, "The verdict has taken 10 long painful years and sleepless nights, But today I have not only won this case against me but I have also won my dignity and confidence back. It took a lot of courage to face the world with such heinous allegations. I hope and pray to God that nobody goes through what I have gone through at such a young age. I don't know who will give me these 10 years of my life back to me, but I am glad that this has finally come to an end not only for me but specially for my family. There is nothing bigger than peace in this world."
Jiah Khan was found dead in her suburban home on June 3, 2013.
Based on a letter seized on June 10, which was purportedly written by the 25-year-old Jiah, Mumbai Police booked Suraj Pancholi under section 306 (abatement to suicide) and arrested him.
Sooraj, son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was allegedly in a relationship with Jiah.
Jiah's mother Rabia Khan alleged that her daughter was murdered.
In October 2013, Rabia moved to the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe in the case while alleging that her daughter had been murdered.
On the order of the Bombay High Court, the CBI took over the probe from the Maharashtra Police in July 2014.
Rabia claimed that her daughter was in an abusive relationship with Sooraj Pancholi.
In December 2015, the CBI submitted a report before the court and termed the case as an abetment to suicide. A few days later, Rabia demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
In February 2017, the High Court rejected the demand for the formation of the SIT.
The trial court also rejected Rabia's demand for further investigation in 2018.
On 15 March 2019, the trial began in the Jiah Khan case.
In the year 2021, the case was reassigned to the Special CBI Court because the sessions court said that the jurisdiction of the CBI case is not with the sessions court.
On March 21, 2023, the government side closed its case with the statement of 21 witnesses.
On April 20, 2023, both sides presented their final arguments after which the court fixed 28 April to announce the verdict.
On Friday, the Special CBI court judge Judge AS Sayyed said "Due to paucity of evidence, this court can't hold you (Sooraj Pancholi) guilty, hence acquitted."
After arriving home from the court, the 'Hero' actor greeted the media persons, expressed his happiness, and thanked the paparazzi outside his Mumbai residence.
His housing staff later distributed sweets to the paps.
After the Court's verdict, Sooraj took to his Instagram and reacted to his acquittal and wrote, "The Truth Always Wins! #GodIsGreat."
Sooraj made his Bollywood debut with the action romantic film 'Hero' opposite actor Athiya Shetty in the year 2015.
Helmed by Nikkhil Advani and produced by Salman Khan, the film also starred actor Tigmasnhu Dhulia, Sharad Kelkar, Aditya Pancholi and Vivian Bhatena in pivotal roles.
The film failed to impress the audience at the box office.
'Hero' was an official Hindi remake of legendary director Subhash Ghai's 1983 musical drama film of the same name which starred Jackie Shroff in the lead role.
After that, Sooraj was next seen in the drama film 'Satellite Shankar' in which he played the role of an Indian army officer which was released in the year 2019.
Helmed by Irfan Kamal, the film also starred actor Megha Akash in the lead role and it also failed to impress the audience at the box office despite getting positive reviews.
After facing some hard times in the films, Sooraj also experimented to do tough roles and opted to do a ballroom dance film titled 'Time to Dance' in the year 2021.
The film marked the Bollywood debut of Katrina Kaif's sister Isabelle Kaif.
Helmed by Stanley D'costa the film was another big failure of Sooraj's acting career.
Earlier in 2020, Sooraj announced his next biopic film 'Hawa Singh' which was based on the life of legendary Indian boxer Hawa Singh.
Actor Salman Khan took to his Twitter to announce the film and shared the first-look poster.
A recipient of the Arjuna Award and the Dronacharya Award, Hawa Singh dominated Indian and Asian Boxing in his weight class for a decade.
Directed by Prakash Nambiar, a new update on the biopic is still awaited.
Apart from films, he also appeared in some music videos like 'GF BF' and 'Dim Dim Light'.
On the other hand, talking about Jiah Khan's acting career, she worked only in three films during her career span and all of them emerged to be a hit.
She made her Bollywood debut with Ram Gopal Varma's drama film 'Nishabd' opposite actor Amitabh Bachchan. She received a lot of appreciation for her performance in the film.
Post that, she was also featured in actor Aamir Khan's blockbuster film 'Ghajini' in which she was seen in a supporting role.
At last, she appeared in Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh's romantic comedy film 'Housefull'.
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