Bombay High Court on Wednesday cleared actor‑producer Rahul Raj Singh of abetment to suicide in the 2016 death of actress Pratyusha Banerjee.
Banerjee’s body was found at her rented flat in suburban Goregaon on April 1 2016, and her parents had filed a complaint accusing Singh of abetting her death, assault and harassment. Singh was booked on the abetment charge and secured anticipatory bail in July 2016.
The court’s decision hinged on a recorded phone call made on the day of the tragedy, in which Singh allegedly urged Banerjee not to take drastic measures and announced he was turning his car around to meet her. The transcript also revealed Banerjee lamenting her parents and other people, indicating her distress.
After a 2018 chargesheet, Singh applied to the sessions court for discharge, a plea denied, prompting him to seek relief from the Bombay High Court. Judge SG Dige, hearing arguments from senior advocate Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyansh Mithare, found no evidence of abetment and criticized the haste of the FIR filed without a suicide note.
Singh is now discharged and will not face trial, bringing a 10‑year legal saga to a close. The ruling also signals that recorded conversations can weigh heavily in abetment cases, a precedent that may reshape future investigations.