Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday acquitted former Haryana Minister and serving MLA Gopal Goyal Kanda of abetment to suicide in the Geetika Sharma case, which had cost him his ministerial berth a decade ago. Special Judge Vikas Dhull said his actions and those of co-accused Aruna Chadha, “directly or indirectly”, did not prompt Geetika, a flight steward with Mr. Kanda’s now-defunct MDLR Airlines, to end her life.
Geetika was found dead on August 5, 2012 at her Ashok Vihar residence in north-west Delhi. In her August 4 note, she had said she was ending her life due to “repeated harassment” by Mr. Kanda and Ms. Chadha, a manager at MDLR.
The judge, in his 189-page order, held both accused not guilty of the charges punishable under IPC Sections including 306 (abetment of suicide), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 466 (forgery).
‘Attracted to Geetika’
The court noted that Mr. Kanda was drawn to Geetika. “This might be the reason for both accused travelling to Dubai to request her to rejoin MDLR, otherwise there was no reason as to why CMD of a company, who was owner of an airline and had interest in hotels in Goa and Gurgaon, would travel to Dubai to request a cabin crew employee (Geetika) to return to his company,” it said.
The order noted other benefits Mr. Kanda had extended to the deceased – making her MDLR director, gifting her a luxury car, sponsoring her fee for an MBA course, taking her along with him to Singapore, making her president of his Sundale Educational Society even though she had no experience in the field. “...said benefits were given by Kanda due to his liking or attraction towards the deceased,” it said.
The court arrived at the conclusion that no specific acts or instigation done by any of accused have been specifically mentioned in Geetika’s note. “... it’s apparent that deceased had narrated as to what kind of character the accused persons had in her estimation, but has not narrated any facts to show as to how she had been cheated or how her trust had been broken by accused persons and whether the same was done with the intention that the deceased should commit suicide,” the judge said.
Probe officer rapped
The verdict cited that a doctor, Vishaka Munjal, had testified that Geetika had come to her clinic in March 2012 for an abortion. It said there was also a “strong possibility” that Geetika was intimate with a person in Mumbai on August 3, 2012, as corroborated in her post-mortem report.
The possibility of Ms. Chadha and Mr. Kanda disclosing these two facts to her mother, which led to a quarrel between the two on her return from Mumbai on August 4, 2012, and Geetika ending her life thereafter cannot be ruled out, the court said. It concluded that “the big mistake” in trusting the two accused that Geetika mentioned in her note could be a reference to them divulging her abortion and her night out in Mumbai to her mother.
The judge rapped the case investigation officer for not looking into three of the six calls exchanged from Geetika’s cell phone on August 4, 2012, saying they could have thrown some light on her death.
Responding to his acquittal, Mr. Kanda said, “There was no evidence against me. The entire thing was made up.”
(Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health suicide prevention helpline 011-40769002 (10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., Monday-Saturday).
Published - July 25, 2023 11:23 am IST
