Tunisha Sharma case: HC asks police to probe if instigation made out

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the police if its investigation into the alleged suicide of television actor Tunisha Sharma was being done correctly, and observed that they will have to find out if there was instigation on the part of the accused. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and P K Chavan examined the police's case diaries.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by actor Sheezan Khan, 27, Sharma's co-star who was arrested for allegedly abetting her suicide, seeking for the case to be quashed and to be released from jail by way of interim order.

Sharma, 21, who acted in the show 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul', was found hanging in the washroom on the set of the serial on December 24 last year near Vasai in Palghar district. Khan was arrested by the police in the next day.

Public prosecutor Aruna Kamat Pai, appearing for the police, told the court that CCTV footages (of the day Sharma killed herself) shows her arriving at the set in a normal and happy mood.

''She is then seen entering the accused's room, but comes out disturbed. We have also sent three mobile phones (Sharma's, Khan's and another belonging to a friend) for forensic testing,'' Pai said.

Khan's lawyer Dhiraj Mirajkar said the police can continue its probe, but the actor's custody was not required.

The bench then asked the police if the probe was being done correctly. ''Is the investigation being conducted in the correct direction. Ultimately, what needs to be seen is what was the instigation. The statement of the complainant (Sharma's mother) prima facie doesn't show that...,'' the court said.

The bench added that it was aware that the FIR was not an encyclopedia and that it is only meant to set the law in motion.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

Apart from this petition, Khan had also filed a petition seeking bail that is likely to come up for hearing on February 15 before a single bench of the high court. Khan and Sharma had acted in few television serials and were said to be in a relationship which allegedly came to an end just a few weeks before Sharma was found hanging. Khan is presently in judicial custody.