Mumbai: Bollywood actress Ayesha Jhulka has approached Bombay High Court seeking speedy justice for her pet dog ‘Rocky’ which was allegedly killed by her caretaker.
Ram Nathu Andre, the caretaker who worked in Ayesha’s bungalow in Lonavala, informed her on September 13, 2020 that her pet dog died by sinking in the water tank.
Ayesha, who acted in several hit films like ‘Khiladi’ and ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ in the Nineties, suspected foul play and had Rocky’s body sent for post-mortem.
On examining the report, experts were of the opinion that the dog had died of suffocation/strangling and evidence didn’t correlate with it being a case of drowning.
A few days after Ayesha registered an FIR on September 17, 2020, the caretaker admitted to police that he had strangled the dog in an inebriated condition. Ram Nathu was arrested on September 25, 2020 and sent to jail. Two days later, he was granted bail.
A chargesheet in the case was filed by Maval police on January 7, 2021.
Ayesha filed an application for intervention in court proceedings in February 2021, which is still pending to be heard by the Magistrate court.
The 51-year-old actress, who made a comeback to Bollywood with the 2018 film ‘Genius’, also complained to Directorate of Prosecution, Mumbai, that no appropriate steps were taken by the public prosecutor to conduct the trial.
But after all her efforts failed to yield results, she approached the Bombay High Court.
Ayesha’s petition in high court, filed by advocate Harshad Garud, stated that the trial in the case has not started as the Magistrate court is yet to take cognisance of the chargesheet after over three years.
On Friday, when the plea came up for hearing before
The bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande, who heard Ayesha’s petition on Friday, pointed out that since the plea was for expediting the trial, it could be heard only by a single bench, and not a division bench.
Garud said he will be moving the court of Justice Modak for an early hearing.
