Jiah Khan suicide case: Timeline of the events till now

The day and dawn of tomorrow's rising sun will assumably bring in the good news which the entire Pancholi family had been waiting for many years. With this feeling in their minds, the entire Pancholi family members are living their day today for tomorrow is a big day...as they say... ‘Judgement Day’. A news report in the ‘Bar And Bench’ portal stated that a Mumbai court is likely to be pronouncing its verdict in the Jiah Khan suicide case tomorrow (on April 28). The Special Judge A S Sayyad had reserved the case for verdict. Let us look at the timeline of the events in the Jiah Khan case:

June 3, 2013- date when Jiah Khan was found dead

Bollywood actress Jiah Khan was found dead in her Juhu apartment on June 3, 2013. She was found hanging to the ceiling. Her body was found by her mother Rabia Khan around 10:45 pm. Jiah Khan had reportedly written a 6-page note, wherein she spoke about her troubled relationship with Sooraj Pancholi.

Sooraj Pancholi and others were questioned about the late actress’ death
Since Jiah Khan was reportedly in a relationship with Sooraj Pancholi, the latter and a few others were called for questioning. Jiah Khan’s mother also had said at that time, that her daughter was also suffering from depression.

Jiah Khan’s letter surfaces
The six-page letter which Jiah Khan had written went onto reveal a few shocking details of her relationship with Sooraj. The letter also (reportedly) spoke about their intimate relationship, physical and mental abuse.

Sooraj Pancholi gets arrested
Having Jiah Khan’s letter as the evidence, the Mumbai Police arrest Sooraj Pancholi. The actor gets booked under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which states that, ‘Abetment of suicide.—If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine’.

Sooraj Pancholi gets bail on July 1

Even though Sooraj Pancholi’s bail plea was rejected by the Court, it was on July 1, 2013 when he was granted bail, but only after he signed a bond of Rs 50,000.

Court acquits Sooraj Pancholi on July 2

The day and date of July 2 saw the court acquitting Sooraj Pancholi, wherein it stated that, he was not accountable for Jiah Khan’s suicide.

Jiah Khan’s case gets transferred to the CBI
Not happy with the court’s judgement, Rabia requested the court for a thorough and detailed investigation. Post that (which was around a year after Jiah Khan’s death), the High Court decides to

Transfer the case from Mumbai Police to the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI).

Aditya Pancholi files a defamation case of Rs. 100 crores!

Post the case being transferred to the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI), Aditya Pancholi files a Rs. 100 crores defamation case against Rabia Khan.

Pancholi residence gets raided by the CBI
Amidst all this, the CBI (on May 15, 2015), conducts a raid at the Pancholi residence. Post the raids, Sooraj Pancholi gets questioned by the officials.

CBI files a chargesheet against Sooraj Pancholi:

The CBI then went onto file a chargesheet against Sooraj Pancholi, alleging abetment to suicide on December 9, 2015.

Concerned officials rule out the possibility of murder

The concerned officials state that Jiah Khan died by suicide and hence, they rule out the possibility of murder.

British forensic expert Jason Payne-James makes a claim
Amidst all this, Jason Payne-James, a British forensic expert went onto claim that Jiah Khan’s suicide was staged. Aditya Pancholi, later, dismissed the claims.

Rabia Khan writes a letter to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi

After Rabia Khan’s request for a SIT (Special Investigation Team) to investigate her daughter’s case, she wrote a letter to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking help. An excerpt of the letter read as, “Dear Prime Minister, I am the mother of Jiah Khan, who was murdered in Mumbai on 3rd June 2013. Despite clear signs of foul play at the crime scene, the local police declared it a suicide. After the initial traumatic shock from the loss of my daughter, it became clear to me that the "investigation" by Juhu Police was entirely sabotaged in order to benefit the Accused, for reasons best known to them. With tireless support from my advocate Mr Dinesh Tiwari, I moved the Bombay High Court in October 2013, with all the forensic evidence that I have obtained from experts in India and England that is pointing towards homicide. Analysis of the forensic experts shows that the injuries on my daughter's body are inconsistent with the alleged suicidal hanging and the forensic evidence strongly suggest that she was murdered and then hanged to make it look like a suicide.”

Besides the letter, Rabia Khan also launched an online signature campaign to get justice for her daughter Jiah Khan.

Sooraj Pancholi files a plea

In the month of October 2017, Sooraj Pancholi requested an expedition in the trial proceedings by filing a plea at the Bombay High Court. However, this plea was rejected by CBI.

Sooraj Pancholi pleads innocence

Sooraj Pancholi denied all the charges and pleaded innocence when the court accused him of abetment to suicide on January 30, 2018.

As stated above, a Mumbai court is likely to be pronouncing its verdict in the Jiah Khan suicide case tomorrow (on April 28). Speaking exclusively to OTTplay, Aditya Pancholi said, “We are all praying and hopeful that we get a positive judgement. We had got the news 9about the verdict date) when we did our final argument, which was on April 20 this year. The judge Sayyad saab had reserved the verdict for tomorrow. All of us are very anxious and very positive about the verdict. We all are keeping our fingers crossed”.

Whatever the judgement and verdict be, OTTplay will definitely update you first. Do keep a watch on this space in order to know the latest developments in the case.