SSR Case / Bombay High Court reserves order on bail pleas of Rhea, Showik

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reserved the order on the bail applications filed by the two prime accused, actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty. Both Rhea and Showik have been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drug case linked to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

They were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drug case that surfaced during the investigation of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. While Rhea was arrested on September 8, Showik was taken into custody on September 4. After Rhea’s arrest, she was sent to Byculla jail and Showik was locked up inside Taloga Central jail.

NCB has opposed the bail of Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and others. ASG Anil Singh of NCB on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that the case is not related to Sushant Singh Rajput and pointed out that he may have been the consumer but the entire transaction and deal is not restricted to him. ANI quoted him as saying, “This is not a case related to #SushantSinghRajput, he may have been one of the consumers but the entire transaction and deal is not restricted to him. (sic)”

He further said, “All throughout arguments, applicants state that this is connected to #SushantSinghRajput death case but this investigation has nothing to do with it.”

A Single Judge Bench of Justice SV Kotwal was hearing the bail applications.

Rhea Chakraborty’s earlier application for bail was rejected by a special NDPS court and she was remanded to 14-day judicial custody. That custody was later extended till October 6.

The other accused whose bail applications were rejected earlier are Abdul Basit, Zaid Vilatra, Dipesh Sawant and Samuel Miranda.

In the last hearing, Rhea's lawyer Satish Maneshinde argued for the bail applicants that the NCB has no jurisdiction to handle the case after the apex court tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate cases concerning the death of Sushant.

On Monday, NCB admitted two affidavits to the Bombay High Court that state, “Electronic evidence such as WhatsApp chats, records were retrieved from mobile, laptop and hard-disk and it indicated payment made for the drugs. Thus, there is ample evidence to show present applicant (Rhea Chakraborty) has not only regularly dealt with but also financed illicit trafficking of drugs.”

“It is further submitted that if an overall scenario is seen, then the present applicant (Rhea) being aware of the fact that Sushant Singh Rajput being someone who is engaged in consumption has harboured him and concealed him whilst he was engaged in consuming the drugs. This would amount to harbouring. The present applicant also allowed her residence for drug storage and consumption for Sushant Singh Rajput”, the affidavit reads.