Aryan Grover
The probe in the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in Mumbai last year had revealed a drugs angle which involved Rhea Chakraborty. Rhea, her brother, and another accused, Abdel Basit Parihar were arrested.
The bail was granted by the Bombay HC to Rhea Chakraborty, but rejected to her brother, Showik Chakraborty, and Abdel Basit Parihar. The HC imposed various conditions subject to the grant of this bail. These included depositing her passport with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and directions to not leave the country without specific approval from the NDPS court. The Court also directed her to deposit a personal bond worth Rs. 1 lakh.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), earlier this month moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay HC order which granted bail to Rhea Chakraborty. The three-judge bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanianheard the plea on this matter.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NCB, was not challenging the grant of bail to the actress, but stated that the High Court in its grant of bail had made “wide-ranging observations” about the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which make it a difficult task to prosecute an accused and ensure conviction.
The bench, however, directed Mr. Mehta that the bail order’s observations cannot be challenged unless the bail order itself is challenged. To this, the solicitor general said that the NCB shall amend the petition and challenge the bail order in its entirety.