Ex-Haryana mantri Gopal Kanda acquitted in Geetika Sharma suicide case

During the investigation, police added sections of rape and unnatural sex, which were later quashed by the high court.

NEW DELHI | Updated: 25 July, 2023 1:02 pm IST

Gopal Kanda was the home minister of Haryana when Geetika Sharma committed suicide in 2012

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday acquitted former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda and a senior manager of his defunct airline in the 2012 abetment of suicide case of air hostess Geetika Sharma.

Geetika Sharma, who was working in MDLR airline owned by Kanda, tragically committed suicide at her home in Delhi’s Ashok Vihar on August 5, 2012. In her suicide note, she named Kanda and senior manager Aruna Chaddha as responsible for her extreme step.

Both Kanda and Chaddha were present at the Rouse Avenue Court when they were freed from all charges by Judge Vikas Dhull.

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The Delhi Police had registered a case against them under charges of abetment of suicide, forgery, criminal intimidation, and destruction of evidence. During the investigation, police added sections of rape and unnatural sex, which were later quashed by the high court.

Six months after Geetika’s suicide, her mother Anuradha Sharma also took her own life.

Kanda and Chaddha were arrested and spent over one and a half years in jail. Both Kanda and Chaddha were bailed out in 2014.

Geetika’s death garnered national headlines due to the involvement of Gopal Kanda, who was the then home minister of Haryana in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Subsequently, Kanda had to resign from his post.

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MDLR airlines, which was owned by Kanda and is now shut down, had made Geetika a co-partner in the company. In her two-page suicide note, Geetika expressed her extreme distress with Kanda and Chadha. She stated that she was taking her life because she was broken from inside, and both Kanda and Chadha had betrayed her trust. Geetika emphasized that they should be held accountable for their actions.

Presently, Gopal Kanda is the chief of Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and an MLA from Sirsa. He supports the current BJP and JJP-led government in Haryana.