Sooraj Pancholi Acquitted In Jiah Khan's Case: Here's A Timeline Of Events

Bollywood actor Jiya Khan’s suicide has been in the news on and off for a decade now. On April 20, the final arguments in the case were made, and the verdict was delivered on Friday, April 28.

Sooraj Pancholi has been acquitted of abetment to suicide charge in actor Jiah Khan's case. He has been found not guilty, said the special CBI court. Following the special CBI court’s verdict the late actor’s mother, Rabia Khan, isn’t ready to accept the verdict. She said that she will continue to fight and will appeal to the higher court now. She also added that she never laid the alleged charges against Sooraj Pancholi but wanted an investigation into her daughter’s murder. "Suicide nahi toh kya? Who killed her is the question here," asks Rabia Khan, who is determined to continue her battle for answers.

Jiah Khan shocked the entire film industry by committing suicide after writing a six-page letter revealing that she had undergone an abortion. Her ex-boyfriend was charged with abetment to suicide based on the letter. The Mumbai High Court is likely to pronounce the verdict in the case on Friday, a decade after Jiah Khan’s untimely demise.

"There was a time I saw my life with you, a future with you. But you shattered my dreams. I feel dead inside. I’ve never given so much of myself to someone or cared so much. You returned my love with cheating and lies," wrote the Ghajini actor in her final letter.

Here's a timeline of the developments tracing Jiah Khan's case over the past decade.

Jiah Khan Final Verdict - A Timeline Of Events

On June 2, 2013, Jiah Khan, who was 25 years old at the time, was found dead in her home in Juhu, Mumbai. On June 3, the police recovered her body from her apartment. She was found hanging from a fan in her bedroom. On June 7, a six-page letter was recovered from her house, based on which her ex-boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi was charged with abetment to suicide. Her mother, Rabia Khan, claimed that her daughter’s death was murder, not suicide. However, the autopsy report confirmed that the cause of death was hanging without any foul play. Pancholi was granted bail on July 1, but his passport was confiscated. He was also acquainted with any involvement in Jiah Khan’s death on July 2.

In October 2012, Rabia Khan pleaded with the court that the CBI take over and probe the case.

In July 2014, the court accepted Rabia Khan’s plea and directed the CBI to take over the investigation from the police. Aditya Pancholi filed an Rs. 100 crore defamation suit against Rabia Khan in the same month.

In May 2015, the CBI raided Sooraj Pancholi’s house. In December 2015, he was called in for questioning, and a supplementary chargesheet was filed against him for abetting Jiah Khan’s suicide.

In August 2016, the CBI ruled out the possibility of murder and confirmed that Jiah Khan died from hanging without any foul play. Later the same year, Rabia Khan hired a British forensic expert, Jason Payne-James, who claimed that the death was "staged." However, Aditya Pancholi disproved James's conclusion.

In February 2017, the court rejected Rabia Khan’s demand to form a special investigation team to take over the case and her plea against the CBI inquiry. Rabia Khan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking justice for her daughter in September. In October, Sooraj Pancholi requested the Mumbai High Court expedite the trial. The same year, the BBC also made a documentary on Jiah Khan’s death.

In 2018, a plea for further investigation against Sooraj Pancholi was rejected by a special CBI court. The actor finally broke his silence on the issue and spoke to the Hindustan Times. "I knew that there was something I was going to be charged with, but I’m ready for any charge against me, because until I have a charge, I cannot defend myself. I have lost my 20s in this bargain, but I don’t want to feel like a victim. I don’t want any sympathy. I just want my trial to be fair, whether it goes against me or in my favour."

In 2021, Jiah Khan’s case was reassigned to a special CBI court after the sessions court claimed that it did not have any jurisdiction after the CBI investigation.

In 2022, the Mumbai High Court dismissed Rabia Khan’s petition seeking a fresh investigation of the case.

Following the completion of final arguments in the case on April 20, 2023, Special Judge AS Sayyad reserved the case for verdict. Rabia Khan admitted that she is in the "spiritual realm" with her child. According to reports, Jiah Khan’s mother might not be able to attend the final hearing. It is also reported by the ET Times that she didn’t seem very hopeful. Meanwhile, the Pancholi family stated they were all positive but also anxious about the verdict.

Suggested Reading: Jiah Khan’s Mother Rabia Khan Alleges Sooraj Pancholi Abused The Late Actor