MUMBAI, Sept. 12 -- Twenty-two years after model and winner of the 1997 Miss India pageant Nafisa Joseph died by suicide, her fiance, city businessman Gautam Khanduja, 54, will stand trial for abetment. Joseph had allegedly killed herself after Khanduja called off their marriage. On Thursday, the Bombay High Court dismissed his plea to be discharged from the case. A single judge bench of justice MM Sathaye rejected Khanduja's plea observing that there were sufficient grounds to proceed against him, adding that, "It is true that strong suspicion cannot take the place of proof, but that can only be decided at the stage of trial." The Pali Hill resident who is in the business of manufacturing and exporting auto spare parts, was 31 years old when he began dating model and VJ Nafisa Joseph, then 24, in 2003, and the couple got engaged in May 2004. According to the police, Khanduja had told Joseph that he had divorced his wife, Naushin Khan. Trouble between the couple erupted when his mother allegedly informed Joseph that he was not divorced, prompting her to insist on seeing the divorce papers. Khanduja refused to show her the divorce decree and eventually called off the wedding, claiming she was short-tempered. Joseph had had two previous broken engagements, and this third heartbreak prompted her to take her life on July 29, 2004, as per the FIR registered against Khanduja under Section 306 (abetment to suicide). On August 24, 2005, the trial court rejected his plea for discharge in the case. The businessman subsequently moved the high court through Dipesh Mehta and Associates. His counsel Ashok Mundargi had argued before the high court that the chargesheet did not attribute any act of instigation, threat, coercion, humiliation or intentional aid on his part and that his mere refusal to marry her was not sufficient to attract the charge under Section 306. The senior advocate pointed out that the only allegation against him was that he had refused to marry her because of incompatibility. Assistant public prosecutor Manisha R Tidke opposed the plea, contending that the couple was engaged, their marriage date was fixed and invitation cards had been distributed. Under such circumstances, his last-minute refusal to marry her left her feeling humiliated, and fearing disrepute to her and her family, she died by suicide. "Therefore, the applicant was directly responsible for her suicide," Tidke argued. The high court rejected arguments advanced on behalf of the 54-year-old and said a case for abetment could only be decided at the time of trial. "It appears from the material available that the parties knew each other's past including the past broken relationships of the deceased thereby making her sensitive and vulnerable," the judge said. "Whether the applicant's refusal to marry and non-supply of divorce papers proved to be the last straw that broke the camel's back will have to be decided at the time of trial," said judge Sathaye. The court also relied on recorded statements of Joseph's mother and her friends in reaching its decision. Khanduja's advocate Dipesh Mehta told HT that they will be approaching the Supreme Court within the next six weeks during which the interim stay on the proceedings will continue....