Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on July 25 acquitted former Haryana Minister Gopal Goyal Kanda in the suicide of former air hostess with his aviation company, Geetika Sharma. The court said his actions had not ‘directly or indirectly’ prompted her to end her life in 2012.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull, in the 189-page order, said prosecution had examined 65 witnesses but no charge had been proved against the accused.
The judge acquitted Mr. 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). He said the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused, pursuant to a criminal conspiracy, created circumstances due to which Geetika had no option but to die by suicide.
The court said that though the prosecution witnesses were trying to “cover up” by stating that on August 3, 2012, Geetika had spent the night at Mumbai airport, there was a strong possibility that she stayed in Mumbai with some other person with whom she had physical relations.
The judge, citing her post-mortem report, said Geetika had some kind of physical relations prior to her death.
“The possibility of Ms. Chadha and Mr. Kanda disclosing this fact to Geetika’s mother 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 Geetika and her mother on her return from Mumbai on August 4, 2012 and thereafter Geetika committed suicide cannot be ruled out,” the judge said.
Suicide note
With regard to the suicide note, which was a crucial evidence in the case, the court said, “it is a settled principle of law that mere naming of the accused would not be sufficient to hold the accused guilty of abetment of suicide unless in the suicide note, a specific act or instigation has been mentioned.”
The court thus arrived at the conclusion that no specific acts or instigation done by any of the accused had been specifically mentioned in the suicide note. “From the suicide note it is apparent that Geetika 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 the accused persons and whether the same was done with the intention that the deceased should commit suicide,” the court said, adding that this did not prove that the actions of the accused led Geetika to commit suicide.
The court further noted, “Mr. Kanda was attracted to Geetika and this might be the reason for both the accused travelling to Dubai to request her to rejoin MDLR, otherwise there was no reason as to why the CMD of a company, who was owner of an airline and had interest in hotels in Goa and Gurugram, would travel to Dubai to request a cabin crew employee [Geetika] to return to his company. The other benefits, which Mr. Kanda had given to Geetika, in the form of making her Director, providing her a BMW car, sponsoring her fee for MBA course, taking her along with him to Singapore, making her president of Sundale Educational Society, even though the deceased had no experience in the running of school, proves that the said benefits were given by Mr. Kanda due to his liking or attraction towards Geetika.”
Therefore, it cannot be believed that Mr. Kanda, who due to his attraction towards Geetika, was providing her with so many favours and benefits would have mens rea to create such circumstances for the deceased, wherein she had no option but to commit suicide or he by his conduct, directly or indirectly, had instigated the deceased to commit suicide, the court said.
Personal secrets
The court said Geetika was friendly with Ms. Chadha and used to socialise with her. Their friendship was not a casual one, as the deceased used to share her personal secrets. It has come in the evidence of Dr. Vishakha Munjal that in March 2012, Geetika had come to her clinic on a reference made by Ms. Chadha for abortion, since she was unmarried.
From the testimony of Dr. Munjal, it was proved on record that Geetika trusted Ms. Chadha to this extent that she had shared about her pregnancy with her and had sought her help in getting the same aborted. Therefore, there was a strong possibility that Ms. Chadha might be knowing about the person who was having physical relations with the deceased.
Referencing the suicide note, where Geetika said she made a big mistake by trusting the accused persons, might be in reference to the two breaking her trust by sharing about her abortion and her night out in Mumbai, the court concluded.
The judge noted that according to Geetika’s call detail records, 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 (IO), he said.
“It was imperative for the IO to have investigated those three calls, out of which two calls were from the same mobile number of duration of 192 and 155 seconds respectively, which were received by Geetika on August 4, 2012 as they were made prior to her death and could have thrown some light on her committing suicide.
“The possibility of some person known to Geetika 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 Geetika’s mother had made calls to her daughter in the morning of August 5, 2012 between 2.18.50 a.m. and 2.31.47 a.m.
“It is quite unusual for the mother of Geetika to have made telephonic calls to her 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.
From running a shoe store along with his brother in Sirsa in 1990s to launching his own airlines, the MDRL Airlines, having made huge fortunes through land deals, Mr. Kanda first warmed up to the late former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, but shifted his loyalty to Chautalas when the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) came to power in 1999.
In 2019, he floated his own party, the Haryana Lokhit Party, and was elected MLA from Sirsa.
The Haryana BJP had refused his support for government formation in 2019 after the Assembly election threw up a hung Assembly, but recently included his party in the National Democratic Alliance fold. His family also has business interests in the hospitality sector and media.
(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).
