The Mumbai Police told the Bombay High Court on Monday that the first information report filed by actor Rhea Chakraborty against Sushant Singh Rajput’s sisters “disclosed commission of offence” and that they were duty-bound to register the complaint, NDTV reported. Rajput’s sisters – Priyanka Singh and Mitu Singh – have filed a plea seeking to quash the FIR lodged against them.
In their affidavit, the Mumbai Police dismissed allegations that they were trying to damage the reputation of the 34-year-old actor, who was found dead in his Bandra home, and his sisters. The police also sought the dismissal of the petition filed by Rajput’s sisters.
The affidavit said that “a fake medical prescription” was sent by Rajput’s sisters with the help of Delhi-based doctor Tarun Kumar where medicines for anxiety were prescribed to the deceased actor.
“This may have led to [the] administration of psychotropic substances without actual examination of Rajput by the doctor, and may have caused and contributed in his suicidal death,” the affidavit said. “This version of the informant disclosed cognisable offences warranting investigation and requiring no preliminary enquiry. Therefore, the Mumbai police were duty-bound to register the FIR.”
The affidavit added that the police referred all relevant documents pertaining to the FIR to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating Rajput’s death, according to the Hindustan Times. The police further opposed the CBI’s stance that they should not have registered the complaint in the same case that the central agency was already investigating.
“The case being probed by the CBI is one registered by the deceased’s father in Bihar,” the police said in the affidavit. “On the other hand, the FIR lodged by the Mumbai Police is by Rhea Chakraborty seeking investigation for forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy against Sushant Singh Rajput’s sisters Priyanka and Meetu and doctor Tarun Kumar.”
On October 28, the CBI told the High Court that the FIR filed against Rajput’s sisters for allegedly forging and procuring a fake medical prescription for their brother was “vitiated and bad in law.”
The CBI had backed Priyanka Singh and Mitu Singh’s plea, arguing that if the Mumbai Police or Chakraborty had any information on Rajput’s death, they should have directly shared it with the agency. The investigating agency added that the police should have conducted a preliminary inquiry before registering the FIR.
It further said the allegations made by Chakraborty against the sisters are “mostly presumptive and speculative” and cannot be the basis of a complaint.
In her affidavit, Chakraborty had claimed that Rajput had a “tumultuous relationship” with his family and was also suffering from mental health problems, for which he was undergoing treatment. “In January 2020, Rajput went to Chandigarh to meet his family. After he returned, he said he was discontinuing his medications and treatment,” the affidavit said. “In March 2020, when the country was hit by [the] Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown was announced, Rajput appeared stable initially, but with each passing day, his mental health started deteriorating.”
Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, in what the police initially said appeared to be a case of suicide. Chakraborty, who was eventually arrested for consuming drugs, was granted bail on October 7.
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