Actor Rhea Chakraborty on Tuesday reiterated that she had no objections to a Central Bureau of Investigation-led inquiry into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, and said she had only challenged the “illegal” case registered against her in Bihar, India Today reported. In a statement released through her lawyer Satish Maneshinde, the actor said the “very foundation of the federal structure” is at stake because of the Bihar government’s actions.
Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai on June 14, in what the Mumbai Police said was a case of suicide. His father KK Singh had filed an FIR against Chakraborty last month, accusing her of driving his son to suicide.
In the statement, Maneshinde said Chakraborty has maintained that she would like the truth of the matter to be revealed through a “fair and impartial investigation”.
“She [Chakraborty] has admitted in her petition to the SC [Supreme Court] that she sent a message to Union Home Minister Amit Shah Union to order a CBI investigation,” it added. “She has also informed the SC that if the court transfers it to CBI, she had no objection. What she has challenged is the illegal registration and investigation of Bihar Police without jurisdiction and transfer to CBI of an illegal investigation.”
Chakraborty’s lawyer added that the case against her in Bihar was a “total nonsense and an afterthought to make allegations after a period of 40 days” and was filed “at the behest of the political leadership in Bihar”.
“Rhea has not shied away from cooperating with any investigating agency till date, but she is entitled to a fair and impartial investigation by an agency which has jurisdiction to investigate the case,” the statement said. “The manner in which the proceedings were instituted and being conducted in Bihar made it appear unlikely that she would receive a fair treatment.”
The statement said that unless the Maharashtra government consents to a CBI inquiry, the case cannot be transferred to the central investigative agency.
“The very foundation of the federal structure is at stake by the present actions for Bihar government,” the actor’s statement read. “As per law, the Bihar Police ought to have registered an FIR and transferred the investigation to the Mumbai Police. The Bihar Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the case. Rhea will not submit to an illegal investigation.”
The Supreme Court on August 11 had reserved its order on the petition filed Chakraborty to transfer the case filed against her in connection with Rajput’s death from Patna to Mumbai. In her submissions to the court on August 13, the actor had said that the Bihar Police’s FIR is “completely illegal” and that she has no problem if the Supreme Court transfers the case to the central agency.
The CBI took over the inquiry into Rajput’s death earlier this month as the Centre accepted the Bihar government’s recommendation to involve the investigation agency in the case.
The Mumbai and Patna police have repeatedly traded allegations in the case. Their discord intensified over the quarantining of Indian Police Service officer Vinay Tiwari, who was sent to Mumbai from Bihar to investigate Rajput’s death.
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