Sushant Singh Rajput death: Mumbai court denies bail to Rhea Chakraborty in drug case
A special court in Mumbai on Friday rejected the bail pleas filed by Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, who were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drugs case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Besides this, the court also rejected the bail pleas of four others accused in the case. All the accused are currently in judicial custody.
The bail applications of the accused were rejected by judge G B Gurao of the special court hearing cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
“Once we get a copy of the NDPS Special Court order, we will decide next week on the future action, about approaching the Bombay High Court,” lawyer Satish Maneshinde, representing the siblings, said.
Appearing for the NCB, Special public prosecutor Atul Sarpande said the court, while rejecting the bail pleas, accepted the contentions of the prosecution that the investigation is at a crucial stage.
On Thursday, the NCB strongly opposed Rhea’s plea and referred to her allegedly procuring drugs for Rajput through Showik and the late actor’s two staffers as a “drug procurement nexus”.
The NCB claimed that Rhea was “having conscious knowledge about drug consumption by Sushant Singh Rajput” and made herself a part of the offence by procuring drugs for him.
The agency also referred to a statement, which it claimed was given voluntarily by Rhea and will be legally admissible in court. Rhea, however, in her bail plea, said that she has since retracted the statement, claiming that she was coerced into making it.
“As per the statement of the applicant (Rhea), she was making payment for the drugs, which were taken delivery of by Samuel Miranda (Sushant’s housekeeper) and Dipesh Sawant (Sushant’s cook) for handing over to Sushant Singh Rajput,” the NCB said while maintaining that this proves that drugs were “financed” by Rhea and “supplied” to Sushant, thereby making way for her to be booked under Section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The charge pertaining to financing illicit traffic has a maximum prison term of 20 years and is non-bailable.
Rhea in her bail application has also said there was “no shred of evidence” to charge her under the section. “The fact is that the NCB has not disclosed any connection between Rhea and any drug peddler. It is the case of the NCB that Rhea is only connected to Sushant’s house manager, Samuel Miranda, his cook Dipesh Sawant and her brother Showik Chakraborty,” the plea filed by her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said.
(With PTI inputs)
