The Bombay High Court rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of Nilima Chavan, a lawyer and a member of Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of Shiv Sena (UBT) former corporator Sudhir More.
Chavan, aged 53, had taken her case to the high court following the rejection of her pre-arrest bail request by the sessions court on September 16. The sessions court noted that there was prima facie enough evidence against the lawyer.
Furthermore, More, aged 62, tragically passed away in what was alleged to be a suicide near Ghatkopar railway station on September 1. In response to a complaint filed by his son, an FIR (first information report) was filed against the accused lawyer under Indian Penal Code Section 306, which pertains to abetment of suicide, at the Kurla police station.
A single bench of Justice N J Jamadar perused the chats and phone recordings of More and Chavan submitted by the prosecution and said there was something that needs to be probed. The bench rejected Chavan's anticipatory bail plea. The police have claimed that on the day of the suicide, More and the accused made 56 phone calls, and WhatsApp and video calls to each other. The police said that as per the phone call recordings, Chavan had been harassing and blackmailing More claiming that she would kill herself if he did not talk to her. The calls revealed that there was an ongoing argument between the duo over the past few days and More had spoken to the accused for two hours before he died by suicide.