HC grants bail to Aruna Chadha in airhostess suicide case

The Delhi High Court today granted bail to Aruna Chadha, co-accused in the airhostess Geetika Sharma suicide case along with former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda.
While granting bail, Justice V P Vaish put various conditions and asked Chadha, who was first arrested on August 8, 2012 in connection with the case, not to try to influence the trial court proceedings.
The court, on November 25, issued notice to Delhi Police on Chadha's plea. She had moved the court after being denied interim bail on November 16, a day after she surrendered on the expiry of her two-month-long interim bail.
She had sought regular bail on the ground that she is a single mother and needs to take care of her nine-year-old daughter and aged parents.

While denying her regular bail, the sessions court had noted in its order of November 16 that the allegations against her were grave and serious in nature and her presence at large was likely to cause tampering with the witnesses whose statements were yet to be recorded.
Earlier, the high court had refused to grant her regular bail on December 3, 2012.

Chadha was arrested in the case on August 8, last year while Kanda had surrendered on August 18.
They are facing trial for offence of abetting the suicide of 23-year-old Geetika, who was earlier employed as an airhostess in Kanda's MDLR airlines.

Both the accused have also been charged with forgery for cheating and harming the reputation of the victim.
Geetika was found dead on August 5, 2012 at her Ashok Vihar residence in north west Delhi. In her suicide note, she had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Kanda and Chadha.
The police had in its charge sheet said Kanda was obsessed with the victim and was putting pressure on her to come back to his company.