Pratyusha Banerjee suicide: Actor Rahul Raj Singh moves HC seeking expeditious hearing on discharge plea

Actor Rahul Raj Singh has asked the Bombay High Court to expedite the hearing on his discharge plea over the abetment to suicide of TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee. Singh claimed the case had ruined his acting career and that he had lost work due to the matter. Banerjee died by suicide in 2016, and Singh was granted anticipatory bail in July of that year.

MUMBAI: Actor Rahul Raj Singh, booked for abetment to suicide of television actress Pratyusha Banerjee, has approached the Bombay high court seeking to expedite the hearing on his discharge plea, pending before the Dindoshi sessions court since April 2018.

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In the petition filed through lawyers Pravesh Yadav and Shreyansh Mithare, Singh contended that his acting career was stuck and he was unable to get any work due to the pendency of the case. He claimed that he had a good case on merit and if the said discharge application was not heard and decided at earliest, his career will be ruined and that he has lost good projects in last four years due to the case.”

Singh had claimed that he and the television actress were in a relationship and when he tried to stop her from giving money to her parents, it caused a rift in their relationship. In his petition, he further said that he had sought adjournment only twice in the last four years, while most of the time it was adjourned on the plea of the prosecution or because the court was busy hearing other cases.

Banerjee died by suicide in her rented apartment in Goregaon West on April 1, 2016. Singh was granted anticipatory bail by Bombay high court on July 2, 2016. Two years after the probe, the Bangur Nagar police in April 2018 filed a chargesheet in the case after which the actor had filed a plea for discharge.

In his discharge plea, Singh claimed that the couple was planning to get married in December 2016. However, Banerjee was “deeply disturbed and frustrated” due to “constant interference of Soma (Banerjee’s mother) and her husband Shankar Banerjee.” He claimed that the deceased was disturbed due to her parents and not because of him.

“The complainant (Soma) was holding three-four joint bank accounts with Pratyusha. The complainant and her husband were in the habit of blowing away their daughter’s money and leading a lavish lifestyle on her earnings,” Singh had claimed, while seeking protection from arrest.