The Bombay High Court granted conditional bail to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and two other people, but rejected her brother Showik’s bail statement, said her lawyer Satish Maneshinde.
Judge SV Kotwal, who had completed the hearing on the bail applications on September 29 and reserved his ruling, issued the long-awaited order on Wednesday morning.
The court granted Rhea 1 lakh bond and Rhea 50,000 each to Dipesh Sawant and Samuel Miranda, who were also detained by the NCB.
However, Judge Kotwal rejected the bail requests of Showik Chakraborty and Abdul Basit Parihar. The five were among 20 arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drugs angle investigation into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Rhea has spent 28 days in custody to date, although a special NDPS court sent her to extended judicial custody until October 20, Tuesday. Additional Attorney General Anil Singh, who appeared on behalf of the NCB, requested a stay of the order’s operation, but Judge Kotwal rejected it.
Rhea and Showik’s defender, Maneshinde, and the attorneys for the other co-defendants Rajendra Rathod, Tariq Sayed and Subhodh Desai had argued vigorously in the bond case for their clients.
Among other things, they argued that the NCB lacked jurisdiction to investigate the matter in light of the August 19 Supreme Court order ordering all investigations in the Sushant case to be turned over to the CBI, the crimes under which the defendants They were captured by the NCB. they were bail and the charges under Section 217A of the NDPS Act against the defendant had no supporting evidence.
Countering the defense attorneys’ arguments, Singh maintained that the NCB had jurisdiction in the investigation and had sufficient evidence to show that the defendants were part of a larger narcotics syndicate.
Welcoming the court order this morning, Maneshinde said: “Truth and justice have prevailed and ultimately Judge Kotwal has accepted the factual and legal submissions.
“Rea’s arrest and custody was totally unjustified and outside the scope of the law. The persecution and witch-hunt by three central agencies – CBI, ED and NCB – of Rea must come to an end. We remain committed to the Truth. Satyameva Jayate, “said Maneshinde.
Among the conditions listed for Rhea’s bail were depositing her passport with the OCN, reporting to the local police station every day for 10 days, not leaving Mumbai without informing the OCN, etc. IANS
