The Supreme Court recently received a petition that sought a stay on the investigation by Bihar Police. It also asked the protection to the Petitioner.
Facts of the Case
On 14th June 2020, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide. He hung himself in his apartment in Bandra, Mumbai.
Mumbai Police conducted the investigation since the beginning. The police authorities have interrogated various persons from the industry. Such as, people like Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Aditya Chopra and others.
Rhea Chakraborty’s statement was also recorded, the alleged girlfriend of the deceased. The interrogation went on for a whole day.
The deceased’s father filed an FIR in Patna on 25th July. The FIR was against his alleged girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty and six others. The FIR attracted different sections of IPC.
Submission before the Court
The Petition by Rhea Chakraborty was under Section 406 CrPC through Senior Advocate Shyam Divan. It sought the transfer of an FIR registered in Bihar to Maharashtra. The Petition further seeks protection for the Petitioner against coercive actions.
The Advocate Vikas Singh representing the father of the deceased opposed the Petition. He submitted that:
“As per S. 174 of CrPC, only Bihar Police has the authority to investigate here, and not Mumbai as no cognizance cases have been registered in Maharashtra. How is it that the entire Bollywood film industry is being called for questioning by the Mumbai, but the person who lowered body from the ceiling has been allowed to go to Hyderabad?”
The Petitioner further stated that the FIR against her is a conspiracy. Further, she stated the Bihar police and the father of the deceased are creating this. Additionally, the plea sought a stay on the investigation by Bihar Police until disposal.
Furthermore, the Petition stated that the, “Deceased was suffering from depression from some time and was also on anti-depressants and he committed suicide on the morning of June 14 at his Bandra residence by hanging himself.”
The Petitioner stated that the deceased was in depression. Both of them were in a live-in relationship. On 8th June, the Petitioner left the premises of the deceased to shift into her own house.
Court’s Observation
The Supreme Court denied granting a stay on the investigation by Bihar Police. The Hon’ble Court even refused to transfer the case from Bihar to Maharashtra. The Court directed all the parties to file a reply within 3 days. The Court directed Maharashtra to file the details of the investigation carried out.
Further, the Court stated:
“Serious allegations have been levelled against Petitioner. She has applied for transfer of proceedings from Patna to Mumbai. Bihar has entrusted it to CBI. SG Mehta submits that Centre has accepted CBI probe request. Rajput was a talented artist who passed away under unusual circumstances. Now whether there is criminality involved needs to be investigated…now everyone has an opinion about high profile cases but we will proceed as per law.”
The Court crtitcised the Mumbai police for wrongfully quarantining a Bihar police officer, since he simply came to Mumbai to carry out the investigation. The Court stated that this “did not send the right signal”. The Centre told the Court that a CBI probe will look into the matter of the deceased’s suicide on the recommendation of the Bihar Government.
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