Nearly ten years after television actor Pratyusha Banerjee died by suicide, the Bombay High Court has discharged her former boyfriend and actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh from the alleged abetment case, ending a legal battle that had stretched on for a decade.
The court's ruling
A single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar G Dige discharged Singh on Wednesday, allowing his revision plea challenging an earlier order of the Dindoshi Sessions Court that had refused to drop the charges against him.
The court relied heavily on the couple's recorded final telephone conversation, in which Singh was heard attempting to dissuade Banerjee from taking any extreme step while he was on his way to meet her. The bench accepted the defence's argument that this demonstrated there was no case of abetment, and that forcing the case to trial would amount to an abuse of process.
Senior counsel Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyans Mithare, appearing for Singh, also questioned the haste in registering the FIR when no suicide note was recovered.
A case that began in 2016
Banerjee, who became a household name playing Anandi in the hit television series "Balika Vadhu," was found dead at her rented apartment in Goregaon, Mumbai, on April 1, 2016, at the age of 24.
Her mother approached the Bangur Nagar police, and an FIR was registered against Singh under provisions relating to abetment of suicide, assault and criminal intimidation. The allegations included claims of mental and physical harassment. Singh received anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court in July 2016 and sought discharge after the police filed a chargesheet in 2018.
The Dindoshi Sessions Court had rejected his discharge plea in August 2023, observing that witness statements prima facie showed the accused had made Banerjee's life a "living hell." The High Court has now overturned that view, bringing the long-running proceedings against Singh to an end.
Sources: Pratyusha Banerjee Suicide Case: Bombay HC discharges Rahul Raj Singh after 10 years — Times Now (PTI), Bombay HC discharges Rahul Raj Singh in 2016 Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case — The Indian Express
The court's ruling
A single-judge bench of Justice Shivkumar G Dige discharged Singh on Wednesday, allowing his revision plea challenging an earlier order of the Dindoshi Sessions Court that had refused to drop the charges against him.
The court relied heavily on the couple's recorded final telephone conversation, in which Singh was heard attempting to dissuade Banerjee from taking any extreme step while he was on his way to meet her. The bench accepted the defence's argument that this demonstrated there was no case of abetment, and that forcing the case to trial would amount to an abuse of process.
Senior counsel Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyans Mithare, appearing for Singh, also questioned the haste in registering the FIR when no suicide note was recovered.
A case that began in 2016
Banerjee, who became a household name playing Anandi in the hit television series "Balika Vadhu," was found dead at her rented apartment in Goregaon, Mumbai, on April 1, 2016, at the age of 24.
Her mother approached the Bangur Nagar police, and an FIR was registered against Singh under provisions relating to abetment of suicide, assault and criminal intimidation. The allegations included claims of mental and physical harassment. Singh received anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court in July 2016 and sought discharge after the police filed a chargesheet in 2018.
The Dindoshi Sessions Court had rejected his discharge plea in August 2023, observing that witness statements prima facie showed the accused had made Banerjee's life a "living hell." The High Court has now overturned that view, bringing the long-running proceedings against Singh to an end.
Sources: Pratyusha Banerjee Suicide Case: Bombay HC discharges Rahul Raj Singh after 10 years — Times Now (PTI), Bombay HC discharges Rahul Raj Singh in 2016 Pratyusha Banerjee suicide case — The Indian Express
