On Friday, the Bombay High Court rejected a plea from actor Sheezan Khan that aimed to dismiss the abetment FIR filed against him in connection with the death case of actor Tunisha Sharma.

Khan faced arrest following a complaint lodged by Tunisha Sharma's mother, accusing him of abetting the suicide of the actor. The incident occurred on December 24, 2022, on the set of their TV show, 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-e-Kabul,' where Sharma reportedly took her own life after a purported altercation with Khan.

Sheezan Khan was arrested the day after the incident and was granted bail on March 5 of this year.

The bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh, in declining to dismiss the case, stated that "The record of investigation prima facie reveals the complicity of the applicant. The altercation proximate to the incident in question prima facie constitutes a direct act of incitement leading to the commission of the offence."

The court remarked, "Knowing fully well about the condition of the victim, whether by the act of quarreling with the victim, the requisite intention to aid or instigate or abet the commission of suicide was present will have to be adjudged during trial, however, the same can safely prima facie be inferred." The bench further added, "The fact that the chargesheet has been filed would indicate that there is sufficient evidence to connect the applicant to the offence."

The court emphasized that it cannot conduct a mini trial and stated, "At this stage of quashing the proceedings, the veracity of the allegations is not to be tested. It is only if, upon the reading of the FIR, in the absence of any rebuttal from the applicant, there is no allegation to connect the applicant with the alleged offence that the FIR can be quashed."

The bench expressed the opinion that, at this juncture, it cannot be asserted that there is no material whatsoever connecting Khan with the alleged offence of suicide. The bench remarked, "It is settled that it is only if no case at all is made out that the proceedings would be quashed. In our view, such is not the case in the present application."

The police, following an investigation, filed a chargesheet stating that Khan had been romantically involved with Sharma. However, the chargesheet claimed that Khan subsequently started ignoring her and developed a close relationship with another girl.

The court observed from the chargesheet that "The applicant intentionally mentally harassed the victim and humiliated her by frequently fighting with her. On the date of the incident, both the applicant and the victim were together in the room, and there was an altercation between them. After the applicant left for the shoot, the victim committed suicide by hanging herself with the strip of cloth used by the applicant for tying his hand during the shoot."

The court concluded, stating, "In light of the material available on record, we are of the view that, at this stage, the proceedings are not at all required to be scuttled."