A court in Mumbai on Monday granted bail to comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa in a drugs case, Bar and Bench reported.
On Sunday, the magistrate’s court had sent them both to judicial custody till December 4. Singh and her husband will have to submit a bail bond of Rs 15,000.
Ayaz Khan, Singh and Limbachiyaa’s lawyer, argued that since the amount of drugs recovered from them was small, they could be granted bail. “There have been similar matters before the court where they have granted bail for offences with less than 1 year of imprisonment,” he said. Khan also informed the court that Singh was diabetic.
Singh was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on Saturday, while her husband was taken into custody the next day.
The anti-drugs agency had seized 86.5 grams of drug during raids conducted at Singh’s home and office on Saturday. Singh and her husband were questioned after the raids. Singh confessed to consuming drugs.
Also read: Day after comedian Bharti Singh’s arrest, NCB takes her husband into custody
The NCB’s widening investigation into drug consumption within the film industry began with the inquiry into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June.
On November 13, actor Arjun Rampal was questioned by the agency in Mumbai in a drugs case after a raid at his home. He later claimed to have prescription for the drugs found during the raid. Rampal’s partner Gabriella Demetriades was questioned two days before him. The NCB had previously taken Gabriella Demetriades’ brother Agisilaos Demetriades into custody for links with drug peddlers arrested in the case linked to Rajput’s death.
The NCB had on November 8 arrested Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, after investigators seized 10 grams of marijuana during a raid at her Juhu residence in Mumbai. She was sent to judicial custody but was granted bail the next day. On October 26, the agency had arrested five people in Mumbai, including television actor Preetika Chauhan.
The anti-drug agency claims to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry. On September 8, the NCB had arrested Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drug case related to Rajput’s death, and also questioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the same matter.
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