Sushant case: Mumbai police opposes CBI probe in SC; calls FIR by Bihar Police ‘politically motivated’

PTI, Aug 9, 2020, 8:27 AM IST

New Delhi: Opposing a CBI probe in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, the Mumbai police told the Supreme Court on Saturday, August 8 that it was carrying out an impartial investigation in the matter and alleged that that the registration of an FIR by Bihar Police was “politically motivated” and violated the principle of federalism.

The 34-year-old Bollywood actor was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14.

“In an affidavit filed before the top court, in response to a petition by Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of an FIR lodged against her by the Bihar police to Mumbai,” the Mumbai police said the CBI should have waited for the apex court decision in the matter before registering the case.

The affidavit filed by police inspector posted at Bandra Police Station said that Bihar Police did not have the jurisdiction to investigate the FIR or examine witnesses and said the question of cooperation by the Mumbai Police into the simultaneous inquiry by the Bihar Police did not arise.

It alleged that the registration of FIR in Patna by Bihar Police was “politically motivated and violated the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution”.

The Mumbai police said that the Bihar police could only have registered a ‘Zero FIR (crime not falling in its jurisdiction) and sent it to Mumbai and did not have the legal authority to transfer it to the CBI.

“Pending the present proceedings, the CBI ought not to have gone ahead and registered the case with it as also constituted a team for conducting the investigation therein.

“It ought to have awaited the final decision of the present proceedings at the hands of the Supreme Court,” the Mumbai police said.

It said that the “indecent haste with which the CBI has proceeded in this regard speaks for itself, regarding the bonafide of all involved in this exercise.”

“Neither the judicial jurisdiction lay in the state of Bihar nor the investigative jurisdiction lay with the Bihar Police, in so far as the unfortunate death in issue is concerned… Neither any cause nor any consequence, relating to the said unfortunate death, as spelled out by law, has even remotely occurred in the state of Bihar, much less at the place where the said FIR is registered,” it said.

The police also denied that the quarantining of IPS officer Vinay Tiwary was aimed at obstructing the investigation by the Bihar Police.

“The protocols for passengers arriving at Mumbai airport issued by the Government of Maharashtra require that domestic passengers who arrive at Mumbai airport, are required to undergo 14 days home quarantine, the only exception being that domestic passengers who intend to exit Mumbai within seven days of arrival, provided they are able to produce a confirmed ticket for onward/return journey,” it said.

The police said that an investigation by two different state police into the same incident, which has occurred within one state, will lead to a chaotic situation as the investigation of one state police may interfere with the investigation of another state police.

Earlier in the day, Krishna Kishore Singh, father of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, filed his reply in the SC opposing the plea of Chakraborty as “infructuous” since the CBI has taken over the matter.

Rhea Chakraborty has sought transfer of the FIR, filed on the complaint of Rajput’s father accusing her of abetting Rajput’s suicide at his Mumbai residence on June 14, from Patna to Mumbai on the grounds of jurisdiction.

The top court had on August 5 sought responses from Bihar, Maharashtra, and the father of the late actor, on her plea.

Rajput’s father had also accused Mumbai police of negligence in the probe and reminded Rhea Chakraborty, the live-in partner of his late son, that she had once tweeted urging Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a CBI probe in the case.

On July 25, Rajput’s father had lodged the complaint at Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna against Rhea Chakraborty and six others, including her family members, accusing them of abetting the actor’s suicide.

The FIR has been registered against her and others at Patna for alleged offenses under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

In her plea filed in the apex court, Chakraborty has alleged that Rajput’s father has used his “influence” in roping her in the FIR.