Mumbai, June 18: The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would hear on July 9 the petition filed by Purushottam Khanchandani, husband of late advocate and activist Sarita Khanchandani, who died by suicide.
Purushottam’s advocate mentioned the plea before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad.
Petitioner alleges biased investigation
During the hearing, the petitioner's advocate alleged that the police are not conducting a proper investigation and are "hand in glove" with the accused. He submitted that despite being named in the FIR, the accused has not been arrested.
He further claimed that the police are in a hurry to file the chargesheet without thoroughly probing the case, which would result in injustice to Sarita Khanchandani.
Purushottam Khanchandani had approached the High Court in January seeking transfer of the investigation from the current police zone, citing serious apprehensions of bias and conflict of interest.
His petition states that Sarita Khanchandani was an advocate, environmentalist, public interest litigant and whistle-blower who had filed several complaints and petitions against officers of Vithalwadi Police Station and officials of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation. Allowing the same police machinery to investigate her death, he argued, defeats the principle of an impartial probe.
Questions raised over handling of case
Invoking Article 21 of the Constitution, the plea contends that the right to life includes the right to a fair and unbiased investigation, especially in cases involving unnatural deaths.
The petition points out that while an Accidental Death Report (ADR) was registered on August 28, 2025, the FIR was lodged only on September 4, 2025, allegedly after repeated representations by the petitioner. It also alleges that crucial evidence, including CCTV footage and the suicide note, was not secured promptly.
The plea further questions the registration of a non-cognisable complaint against Sarita Khanchandani after her death, alleging that she had threatened to commit suicide.
Khanchandani has also claimed that despite repeated threats faced by the deceased during her lifetime, the police failed to provide her adequate protection and therefore cannot now be entrusted with probing her death.
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Transfer of probe sought
He has further alleged that senior police officers made premature statements to the media suggesting personal reasons behind the death, without examining key evidence, thereby pre-judging the case and misleading public opinion.
Seeking judicial intervention, Khanchandani has requested that the investigation be transferred to an independent agency outside the Kalyan zone, preferably under the High Court's supervision.
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