The Bombay High Court has discharged actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh in the decade-old case alleging abetment of the suicide of television actor Pratyusha Banerjee.

A single bench of Justice S G Dige accepted the arguments of senior advocate Aabad Ponda and advocate Shreyansh Mithare that no case of abetment was made out. The order means Singh will not face trial.

Banerjee, known for playing Anandi in Balika Vadhu, was found dead at her rented apartment in Goregaon, Mumbai, on April 1, 2016. She was 24. Singh, her boyfriend at the time, was booked for abetment of suicide, assault and criminal intimidation after a complaint by her mother.

The defence relied heavily on the couple’s last recorded phone conversation before her death. The lawyers argued it showed Singh trying to convince Banerjee not to take any drastic step, telling her he had turned his car around and was coming to meet her.

The High Court had granted Singh anticipatory bail in July 2016. After police filed a chargesheet in 2018, the sessions court rejected his discharge plea in August 2023, prompting the move to the High Court.

Banerjee’s family retains the option of appealing to the Supreme Court.