Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, heading a bench also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said that the date for the hearing will be given after the matter is mentioned for an early hearing.
The top court further said: “It's a hard-earned acquittal. How many years has the man spent in jail? The law is that there is a presumption of innocence. Once there is an order of acquittal, that presumption gets fortified.
According to the airline’s norms, pilots who are first officers are required to serve a notice period of six months and captains for one year.
Kochhar's advocate Amit Desai argued that Chanda had voluntarily sent an email to CBI saying that she is willing to come and explain everything but didn't get any response for one week.
The bench also set the next hearing in the case against the National Testing Agency (NTA) on January 10.
"I am personally attacked by the state... My apprehension is they will arrest me. I want interim protection in the form of no coercive action," Wankhede appealed to the division bench.
Contending that Aryan Khan was "wrongly arrested", Rohatgi said the only thing against him was he arrived with Merchant, and apparently had knowledge of the drugs found on the latter, and hence, had "conscious possession".
The high court said since the man groped the child without removing her clothes, the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault, and rather constitutes the offence of outraging a woman's modesty.
The top court has listed the matter for further hearing on September 7, to consider interim order
A division bench of Bombay HC comprising Justice Sadhana Jadhav and Justice N.R. Borkar has found the Merchant siblings guilty of murder, conspiracy, common intentions, and under the Arms Act.
