The Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Tuesday cleared Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda in a case of abutment to suicide involving Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess with the legislator’s now-defunct MDLR airlines. Special judge Vikas Dhull today acquitted Kanda and co-accused Aruna Chadha on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond all reasonable doubt.
Both accused were charged under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 466 (forgery). Charges of rape under Section 376 and unnatural sex under Section 377 framed by a trial court against Kanda were later dropped by the Delhi High Court.
Kanda was accused of harassment by Sharma in her suicide note dated August 4, 2012. She was found dead at her Ashok Vihar residence in Delhi on August 5, 2012.
Speaking to the media following his acquittal, Kanda said that there was no evidence against him. “This case was made against me and today the court has given its verdict,” he said.
In her suicide note, Sharma had alleged ‘mental harassment’ by Kanda, then Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Haryana government and managing director of MDLR group. She had also named his associate Chadha in her suicide note. A year later, Sharma’s mother also committed suicide.
The trial against Kanda and Chadha began in May 2013. On July 25, 2013, the Delhi High Court set aside the charges of rape and unnatural sex. On December 6, 2013, the trial court passed a fresh order to put Kanda and Chadha on trial for abetment to suicide.