Tunisha Sharma suicide case: Court junks Sheezan's bail plea, lawyers to move HC

'Tunisha's laptop has not been recovered till date,' Sheezan's lawyers said, noting they had many avenues left

A court in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Friday rejected the bail application of actor Sheezan Khan, arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of his co-actor Tunisha Sharma. Additional Sessions Judge R D Deshpande refused to grant relief to the 28-year-old, who was arrested on December 25 and is now in jail under judicial custody.

Advocates Shailendra Mishra and Sharad Rai, who appeared for Khan before the Vasai court, later said they will move the Bombay High Court against the ruling. Advocate Tarun Sharma, who represented Tunisha’s family, opposed bail to the actor and told the court that Khan’s mother was also involved in the matter. He had submitted an application to the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar police commissioner to make Khan’s mother a co-accused in the case, advocate Sharma further said.

After hearing both sides, the court rejected Khan’s bail plea. A detailed order is expected later. Sharma (21), who was acting in the television show ‘Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul’ along with Khan, was found hanging in the washroom on the set of the Hindi serial near Vasai, located on the outskirts of Mumbai, on December 24. She was in a relationship with Khan but they broke up later.

Talking to the media outside the Vasai sessions court, advocates Mishra and Rai said they will move the HC against the order rejecting bail plea of their client Khan. They said they will put up relevant points in their argument before the HC while seeking cancellation of the Vasai sessions court's order. "We have many avenues left out in the journey," Mishra and Rai. They said the judge called both the counsels and informed them that the bail application of their client was being rejected. “In my considered opinion Tunisha's break-up is an admitted position. Next day she got a panic attack. She was upset after that. After the attack and on the day of the incident (December 24) she was last seen in CCTV footage with Sheezan. Hence, in my considered opinion I am rejecting the bail plea," the counsels quoted the judge as telling them. Mishra and Rai said they kept before the court the details of an incident of December 23 (a day before alleged suicide by the TV actor), "when her mother was called and what was told to her". "We will keep before the high court all points, including the last call made to her mother, the dating app issue. Also, a new thing has come to light - Tunisha's laptop has not been recovered till date," the defence lawyers said.

Advocate Tarun Sharma, who represented Tunisha’s family, said rejection of the accused's bail plea was not a big victory for them. Real victory will be when Tunisha will get complete justice he said. He said they will continue to oppose plea for any relief for Khan. "Police have done a good investigation from day one due to which the bail plea was rejected. The investigation agency produced the relevant CCTV footage and statements of the witnesses," Tarun Sharma maintained. The arguments of the defence advocates were based on news articles which were dubbed as "immature" by the court, he said. "The court relies on police investigation papers. They (Khan's lawyers) should ensure that their next arguments (in HC) are not based on media reports, but on documents and evidence," Tarun Sharma stated. During arguments, the lawyer said, he had cited the "last seen theory" (whereby the accused is the last person spotted with the victim) and relied on certain HC and Supreme Court judgments. This point was accepted by the sessions court while rejecting the bail plea, Tarun Sharma said.