Gopal Kanda acquitted in air hostess suicide case

A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted ex-Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda in the high-profile case of abetment of suicide by Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess with his aviation company, saying he did not, directly or indirectly, commit an act that prompted her to end her life.

The court said Kanda was indeed attracted to Sharma which was evident from the promotions he gave her in his companies and the gifts he lavished on her.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull acquitted Kanda and co-accused Aruna Chadha of the charges punishable under IPC Sections including 306 (abetment of suicide), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 466 (forgery), as he held the prosecution has failed to prove the accused, pursuant to a criminal conspiracy, created circumstances due to which Sharma had no option but to die by suicide.

Sharma was found dead on August 5, 2012 at her Ashok Vihar residence in North West Delhi.

In her August 4 suicide note, she had said she was ending her life due to “harassment” by Kanda and Chadha.

The judge said in a 189-page verdict that even though the prosecution witnesses were trying to "cover up" by deposing that Sharma had spent the night of August 3, 2012 at the Mumbai Airport, there was a strong possibility of her having stayed in Mumbai with some other person with whom she had physical relations.

The fact of Sharma having some kind of physical relations prior to her death finds corroboration in her post mortem report, the judge said.

“The possibility of Chadha and Kanda disclosing this fact to the mother of Sharma in a telephonic conversation on August 3 and 4, 2012 respectively, being the well wishers of the family or out of jealousy, which led to a quarrel between Sharma and her mother on her return from Mumbai on August 4, 2012 and thereafter, deceased Geetika Sharma committed suicide, cannot be ruled out,” the judge said.

The judge said the regret expressed by Sharma in the suicide note that she made a big mistake in her life by trusting the accused “might be in reference to accused persons breaking her trust by sharing (information) about her abortion and her night out on August 3, 2012 in Mumbai.”

The judge noted according to Sharma's call detail record, around six calls were exchanged from her mobile number on August 4, 2012.

Out of these three were of her brother Ankit and no investigation was done regarding the remaining three calls by the investigating officer, he said.

“It was imperative for the IO to have investigated those three calls, out of which two calls were from same mobile number of duration of 192 and 155 seconds respectively, which were received by deceased Geetika Sharma on August 4, 2012 as they were made prior to her death and could have thrown some light on Sharma committing suicide.

“The possibility of some person known to Sharma calling her on August 4, 2012 and instigating her, due to which she committed suicide, also cannot be ruled out,” the judge said.

The judge noted Sharma's mother had made calls to her daughter in the morning of August 5, 2012 between 2.18.50 am and 2.31.47 am.

“It is quite unusual for the mother of Sharma to have made telephonic calls to her deceased daughter in the dead of night of August 4-5, 2012 when she was sleeping in the adjacent room and possibility of mother inquiring about the well being of daughter due to previous quarrel, cannot be ruled out,” the judge said.

The court held the evidence of witnesses did not suggest that by way of giving promotions to the deceased or by appointing her as coordinator of the MDLR Group Kanda had the motive to instigate her to end her life.

“It is proved on record that accused persons directly or indirectly, had not done any act of instigation of deceased to commit suicide,” the judge said, adding it was difficult to believe that the two accused were harassing Sharma since 2006 till June, 2012.

The court noted Sharma was friendly with Chadha and used to socialise with her by attending parties in different restaurants.

“Any sane and prudent person would not socialise or take benefits or favours from the very person, who creates stress and tension in his/her life,” the judge said.

The court said it can be inferred that Kanda was attracted to Sharma and this might be the reason for him and Chadha to travel to Dubai to request her to rejoin his company MDLR.

“The other benefits, which Kanda had given to Sharma, in the form of making her Director, providing her BMW car, sponsoring her fee for MBA course, taking her with him to Singapore, making her the president of Sundale Educational Society, even though she had no experience in the running of school, proves that said benefits were given by Kanda due to his liking or attraction towards her.

“Therefore, it cannot be believed that Kanda, who due to his attraction towards Sharma, was providing her with so many favours and benefits would have mens rea (criminal intent) to create such circumstances for her wherein she had no option but to commit suicide or he by his conduct, direct or indirect, had instigated her to commit suicide,” the judge said.

The judge dismissed the defence lawyer's submission that the accused were putting pressure on Sharma to sign the documents of Sundale Educational Society, saying it does not amount to any kind of harassment, as he noted that by signing the documents, “Sharma would have become the president of the Sundale Educational Society, which was running a school by the name of Pumpkin School in Gurgaon, Haryana.”

“Any person, who would be made president of a society, running a school in Gurgaon, would not have felt harassed or depressed but would have felt happy on being chosen for such a prestigious post,” the judge said.

The trial court had also framed charges of rape IPC Section (376) and 377 (unnatural sex) against Kanda.

The Delhi high court, however, later quashed these charges.

Amid an outrage over the incident, Kanda was forced to resign as minister of state for home.

Responding to his acquittal, Kanda said," There was no evidence against me. The entire thing was made up."

Sharma's family, however, expressed "shock" over the judgement after living through an "emotional turmoil" for 11 years.

"My father, who is aged 66, is in a state of shock after the verdict," said Ankit Sharma, her brother.

"We are scared for our lives now. It is a life-threatening situation for us," he told PTI, adding the family does not have the means to fight the case and urged the State to file an appeal against the verdict.