Controversial Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda has been acquitted by a Delhi court in the 2012 suicide of a former airhostess who was employed with his now-defunct airline.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull of the Rouse Avenue Court also acquitted co-accused Aruna Chadha in the case, saying the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond all reasonable doubts.
Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess with Mr Kanda's MLDR airlines, who was later elevated as a director of one of his companies, was found dead on August 5, 2012 at her residence in Delhi.
In her August 4 suicide note, she had alleged "harassment" by Kanda, 46, and another person. Six months after her death, Geetika Sharma's mother killed herself in the family's two-bedroom apartment in north-west Delhi.
Mr Kanda, an influential politician and businessman, was a minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government. He was forced to resign as minister of state for home following the registration of the case.
Mr Kanda, 46, was facing charges under various sections of IPC, including criminal intimidation, destruction of evidence, forgery among other charges.
The trial court had also framed charges of rape and unnatural sex against him but the Delhi High Court quashed these.
Geetika Sharma joined Gopal Kanda's MDLR in 2006. After the airline closed, she moved to Dubai in 2010 to work with Emirates Airlines.
But Mr Kanda allegedly forged letters to ensure that she was made to return to India just five months later. He then blackmailed her to once again work for him, her family had alleged.
Enforcement Directorate Raids Premises Linked To Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda "Scared For Our Lives:" Geetika Sharma's Brother On Haryana MLA's Acquittal Sonali Phogat's Brother Dismisses Charges That MLA Involved In Her Death On Reopening Delhi Schools, Top Court's Note On Air Purifiers, Mid-Day Meal Saudi Prince's Style Shift Sets Up New World Order Strategy "D Fadnavis Will Be Maharashtra Chief Minister," Claims BJP Ally Fact Check: 2019 Anti-CAA Protest Video Linked To Sambhal Mosque Violence Kia India Records Milestone Of Shipping 1 Lakh CKD Units From India Navjot Sidhu's Viral Video: Can Special Diet Cure Cancer? A Fact-Check Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.