Reject Rabia's plea, defence requests court

Mumbai: Actor Sooraj Pancholi’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, on Friday completed his arguments and requested the sessions court to reject late actress Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan’s application appealing the court to include certain material in the charge-sheet filed against Sooraj.

Rabia has filed material, including reports of a private forensic expert which suggest that Jiah was murdered in June 2013 and her death does not seem to be a suicide. Rabia has requested the court to make this material a part of the charge-sheet so that it can be used against Sooraj during the trial in connection with Jiah’s death.

Mr Patil also argued that it was nearly four years since Sooraj had been granted bail but till now, the trial had not commenced and Sooraj had been deprived of a free and fair trial. The lawyer said the chargesheet had been filed and the court should proceed with the trial as soon as possible. He raised questions about the diary. According to him, the letter, which according to the prosecution, was a suicide note, was part of a diary, and notes written before and after the “suicide note” were important but the diary was not available before the court.