RHEA CHAKRABORTY GRANTED BAIL

Jyothi Venkatesh

The Bombay High Court today granted bail to Rhea Chakraborty in the alleged drugs case related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. While Rhea was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh, the high court rejected the plea of her brother Showik and alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar. The court has directed Rhea to appear before her nearest police station every day for ten days after her release. She has also been restricted from leaving the country without the court’s permission and will have to deposit her passport with the investigating agency. She has also been ordered to inform the investigating officer if she has to leave Greater Mumbai.When the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sought a stay on the operation order for a week, the HC declined the same and said that it had declared offences under NDPS Act were ‘non-bailable’.

Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said they are “hounding and witch hunt” against the actor and it must stop immediately. “Truth and Justice have prevailed and ultimately the submissions on facts and law have been accepted by Justice Sarang V Kotwal. The arrest and custody of Rhea was totally unwarranted and beyond the reach of law,” he reiterates. A single-judge bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal also granted bail to Sushant Singh Rajput’s cook Dipesh Sawant and his domestic help Samuel Miranda on a personal bond of Rs. 50,000 each. They will have to be available for questioning whenever required and further conditions can be imposed for a limited period.

Rhea was arrested by the NCB on September 8, on charges of being a part of a drug syndicate operating in Mumbai. Her brother Showik was arrested on September 4. Her bail plea was rejected by the special court, following which she has filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court. Since her arrest, Rhea Chakraborty has been in Byculla jail cell.

A special court had yesterday extended their judicial custody till October 20. Seeking that Rhea’s bail plea be rejected, the NCB told the HC that Rhea had bought drugs for and concealed Sushant Singh’s drug habit and hence Section 27A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act providing punishment for financing drug trafficking and harboring offenders was applicable against them. The NCB called the siblings “active members of a drug syndicate connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers”

Advocate Satish Maneshinde, appearing for Rhea and Showik, had submitted that the investigations carried out by NCB are without jurisdiction, as the case was lodged in relation to the drug angle associated with Sushant’s death and the same could be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as per a Supreme Court order .

However, it may be noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is separately probing a case against Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the actor’s suicide. The central agency probe, meanwhile, agrees with the AIIMS report that declares that Sushant died of suicide. And a forensic audit of Rajput’s bank accounts has not thrown up anything “suspicious” to suggest that his friend Rhea Chakraborty could have pushed Rajput to suicide for financial gain.