Bombay High Court stays trial in Jiah Khan death case

On Monday, the

Bombay High Court

stayed the Sessions Court's trial in the Jiah Khan death case. The complainant,

Rabya Khan

(the actress' mother), had apparently filed a plea to transfer the case to a fresh bench. Another new development on the case was that the prosecution has appointed a new lawyer,

Dhairyasheel Patil

, who demanded three weeks to study the matter in detail. The division bench comprising Justice NH Patil and Justice PD Naik adjourned Rabya's petition but maintained that it is the last adjournment in the matter as the Supreme Court has directed the case to be expedited. The bench also added, 'The interim relief granted in the petition by way of stay on the trial in the lower court is extended for a period of three weeks.'

The actress committed

suicide

on June 10 in her Juhu apartment, following which her mother alleged that her then boyfriend, Bollywood actor Sooraj Pancholi, was responsible for abetment. When we contacted Sooraj's lawyer Prashant Patil, he said, 'The frequent adjournments are a way of killing time for my client. We cannot take a stand on the HC order because it doesn't involve us. It is unfortunate because my client has a right to a free and fair trial. And every time there is a delay, he suffers the most. The final charges are yet to be framed in this case. Whatever section they want to try him under, be it 302 (murder) or 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code, it needs to be done. Sooraj is present for each and every hearing but we continue to bear the brunt of the other party's procrastination.'


The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opposed the adjournment as well. Rabya had sought a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) alleging that the CBI had not been thorough with their investigation and their findings aren't in sync with that of the Mumbai Police which claimed Jiah's death was a suicide and not homicide. The HC has admitted the plea for SIT.

When we reached out to Rabya (who is currently in London), she told us, 'There is no relief either way. What I want is a fair hearing.'

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