Rhea Chakraborty was arrested on charges of organizing drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput
Mumbai:
Actress Rhea Chakraborty was released from Byculla Prison in Mumbai tonight after she was granted bail by the Bombay High Court, 28 days after her arrest on drug-related charges in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Her brother Showik has been denied bail.
The actor, harassed by the media in the past, left in a car with the windows covered with newspapers. He drove through a large crowd of reporters, cameramen, police officers and others gathered outside the jail. Mumbai police had warned the media against “going after celebrities and others” and “endangering lives” shortly after the actor’s bail.
Rhea Chakraborty “will spend the night after a month in her own bed,” said Rhea Chakraborty’s attorney, Satish Maneshinde.
Rhea Chakraborty and her brother were among 15 people arrested in early September on charges of arranging drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old movie star who was found dead in her Mumbai home on June 14.
While granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty, the Bombay High Court practically demolished the Bureau of Narcotics Control case against the 28-year-old actor, accused of being “an active member of a drug union.” The Superior Court said that she was not part of a chain of drug traffickers.
The order also noted that the investigation had found that Sushant Singh Rajput was used to acquire drugs and that many others assisted him.
“Since he has no criminal record, there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is unlikely to commit any crime while on bail,” the order says.
Rhea Chakraborty is accused of buying drugs for her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput. The High Court said that “simply providing money for a particular transaction or other transactions will not finance that activity” and the allegations of spending money on drug purchases for Sushant Singh Rajput “do not mean that she has financed the illicit trade.” The court also noted that the actor’s charges did not involve commercial amounts of drugs.
The court also disagreed with the drug agency’s argument that celebrities and role models should be treated harshly to set an example. “I disagree. Everyone is equal before the law. No celebrity or role model enjoys special privilege in court. Similarly, that person also does not incur any special responsibility when facing the law in courts. Each case will be decided on its own merits regardless of the situation of the accused, “said the judge.
As riders for bail, Rhea Chakraborty has to post 1 lakh as bail and mark her presence daily at the nearest police station for 10 days after her release. You also have to hand over your passport and you cannot travel abroad without permission from the court.
In her request for bail, Rhea Chakraborty had said that she and her brother were the only targets of a multi-agency witch hunt that had found no incriminating evidence.
She had alleged that Sushant Singh Rajput “took advantage of those closest to him to maintain his drug addiction” and that she had tried to get rid of him. She also said that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and that her family abandoned her at the peak of her depression. Her mental health “deteriorated during the confinement,” she said, adding that the deaths of actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor also had a tremendous impact on her.
Investigations into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, which began with a suicide investigation, have gone wild round and round in recent months. The CBI took over the case after Sushant Singh Rajput’s father accused Rhea Chakraborty of mentally harassing, medicating and robbing the actor. The Directorate of Enforcement is investigating the financial allegations raised by the actor’s father.
The Office of Narcotics Control intervened when WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea Chakraborty’s phone revealed alleged drug-related conversations.
Several major players have been questioned by the drug bureau in an ever-widening investigation into drugs and the film industry.
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