New Delhi: The Raigad police have dropped a key charge against Arnab Goswami and two others accused in the 2018 Anvay Naik suicide case. The police filed a chargesheet in the case at an Alibaug court in Raigad district on Friday.

The dropping of Section 34 (act done by several people in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused assumes significance on two counts.First, the first information report (FIR) filed by the police soon after the incident in 2018 added the said section claiming that the three accused had indeed conspired together to drive Naik to suicide in April 2018.Second, when the case was closed in 2019, the earlier investigating officer had mentioned that they could not successfully establish that the three accused had worked in unison resulting in the suicide of Naik.

Interior designer Anvay Naik had mentioned Goswami, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia and Nitish Sarda of Smartworks as responsible for his suicide. According to the police, in a purported suicide note by Naik, he had claimed that he was not paid Rs 5.40 crore for the work that he had done for the accused.Although Section 34 of the IPC has been dropped, the chargesheet includes Section 306 (abetment to suicide) and Section 109 (punishment for abetment) against the trio. As many as 65 persons are named as witnesses in the charge sheet that runs into 1,914 pages. Of the 65 witnesses mentioned in the chargesheet, the police had already recorded statements of 50 witnesses and nine of which have been recorded before the magistrate.

According to an Indian Express report, inspector Jamil Shaikh, who is probing the case, has maintained that they have statements of several employees of Naik, bank statements, and emails to establish that it is indeed non-payment of dues by the accused that led Naik to die by suicide.Another investing official, quoted by the same report, has claimed that they have “strong evidence” in the form of some communication between the accused and Naik, where the latter had categorically stated that it would be difficult for him to continue living if they failed to pay him for the work he had done for them.

According to PTI, a “dying declaration” by Naik, which is in the prosecution’s possession, could be used during the trial. Sources claimed that Naik’s handwriting has been matched with the writing in the suicide note, and the forensic report indicated that he was not under pressure while writing it.Earlier this week, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh had said the police would soon be filing a “strong chargesheet” in the case. Incidentally, Goswami had also moved the Bombay high court on Thursday seeking a stay to the filing of the chargesheet. It is likely to be heard next week.The three accused were arrested by Alibaug police on November 4 in connection with the case, but they secured bail from the Supreme Court on November 11.

Meanwhile, Goswami has maintained that the case closed in 2019, due to the lack of evidence, has been opened in 2020 only to target him.The case had been closed in 2019 under the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, and was opened in November 2020 under the triumvirate government run by Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party, and the Congress.