"She is not part of the chain of drug dealers."
Rhea Chakraborty has been granted bail in the drugs case after remaining in prison for nearly one month.
The actress was arrested on September 8, 2020, on charges of supplying drugs to her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput, who was tragically found dead at his Mumbai home on June 14, 2020.
Since her arrest, Rhea has been in a Byculla jail cell in Mumbai.
Rhea’s brother Showik, as well as six others, were also arrested in connection with Sushant’s death.
This resulted in a major investigation into claims that there was a drugs mafia within Bollywood. As a result, actresses such as Deepika Padukone and Sara Ali Khan were publicly brought in for questioning by the NCB.
Rhea’s bail plea was previously rejected by a special court following which she filed an appeal before the High Court of Bombay.
In her petition, Rhea claimed that Sushant “took advantage of those closest to him to sustain his drug habit” and that she and her brother are the sole targets of a witch hunt.
On October 7, 2020, Rhea was granted conditional bail of Rs. 1 Lakh (£1,060) while two others were granted bail of Rs. 50,000 (£530) each.
However, Showik was denied bail. In a separate order, the court claimed that evidence gathered so far showed that not only did he know “many drug dealers but he was in touch with them and was actually transacting with them” and thus “he is part of a chain of drug dealers”.
The NCB had argued that if Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail “at this crucial stage of investigation, it would hamper further investigation.”
However, the court noted the investigation did not reveal any incriminating recoveries from her or Sushant’s homes.
The court said: “There are no other criminal antecedents against her. She is not part of the chain of drug dealers.
“She has not forwarded the drugs allegedly procured by her to somebody else to earn monetary or other benefits.”
“Since she has no criminal antecedents, there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.”
As part of the bail, Rhea must hand her passport to the investigating agency, can only leave Mumbai after informing the investigating officer and sharing her itinerary.
Reha must also mark her presence at the office of the investigating agency on the first Monday of every month for a period of six months.
Following the announcement, Rhea’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said:
“We are delighted by the order of the Honourable Bombay High Court granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty.
“Truth and justice have prevailed and ultimately the submissions on facts and law were accepted by Justice Sarang V Kotwal”.
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