The Bombay High Court has granted pre-arrest bail to actor and fitness entrepreneur Sahil Khan in an abetment to suicide and defamation case after observing that prima facie no case of abetment of suicide was made out against him.
While granting him relief against a personal bond of Rs 25,000, Justice Nitin Sambre has asked Khan not to contact witnesses directly or indirectly.
The HC has also taken note of his counsel Rajiv Chavan’s statement that Khan will not post anything on social media against the complainant, Manoj Patil.
An FIR was registered with the Oshiwara police station on September 16 against Khan by Manoj Patil, a bodybuilder and former Mr India contest winner, for allegedly harassing and defaming him.
According to the FIR, Khan defamed Patil on social media in 2020-2021, keeping a past grudge in mind. Patil alleged that Khan mentally harassed him and thereby provoked him to take the drastic step. On the night of September 15, at around 11 pm, Patil took some pills and tried to commit suicide. However, he was rushed to the hospital and saved.
Chavan, argued that the section 306 was not applicable against the applicant as Patil was still alive. Section 306 is invoked against a person who instigates another person to commit suicide and the other person succumbs to it.
On a court query, Chavan said that the FIR was filed by Patil himself.
Khan had approached the HC after the session court at Dindoshi rejected his anticipatory bail plea on September 23. However, the lower court granted relief to two other accused – Raj Faujdar and Junaid Kaliwala.
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