Mumbai: The CBI Wednesday registered a formal case to investigate the death of Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, five weeks after a Bombay High Court order, an official said.
The development came after the high court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and asked it to consider whether it was a case of suicide or homicidal death.
"If it comes to a conclusion that it is a homicidal death, then further investigation be made to find out who is the perpetrator of the crime and accordingly action be taken," a division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice P.D. Kode had said in its order July 3.
A US citizen, Jiah Khan was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her Mumbai home June 3 last year in a case of apparent suicide. Police later recovered a suicide note purportedly penned by her.
The court had ordered the agency to take over the probe from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Maharashtra Police following a plea filed by the actress' mother Rabia Khan in October 2013, seeking a probe by the CBI.
"The case is handed over to the CBI for further investigation and to assess whether Jiah Khan committed suicide or was murdered," the division bench said last month.
The court said it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the probe done by Mumbai police.
The court had directed the Maharashtra government and police to provide all necessary support to the CBI in investigating the case.
The judges said the forensic opinion obtained privately by petitioner Rabia Khan was at variance with that of Mumbai police, suggesting there was a "lacuna" in the probe.
Moreover, the SIT constituted following court directives consisted of officers who were part of the earlier team that had probed the case and reached the conclusion that Jiah Khan's death was a suicide.
