Bombay HC grants bail to Rhea Chakraborty, rejects bail plea of her brother Showik Chakraborty

Mumbai, Oct 07: The Bombay high court on Wednesdaygranted bail plea to actor Rhea Chakraborty and rejected bail plea of her brother Showik Chakraborty..

The bench granted bail to Rhea on furnishing a personal bond of ₹1 lakh.

"Rhea should mark her presence for 10 days in the police station after release, deposit her passport, not travel abroad without court permission and inform the investigating officer if she has to leave Greater Mumbai," the bench said.

Bombay High Court has trashed the charges of financing drugs or harbouring offenders against Rhea Chakraborty, stating that the actress can't be charged under Section 27A of NDPS.

No evidence of commercial quantity of drug involved and Rhea has not forwarded drugs allegedly procured by her to some else for monetary gain, the Bombay High Court said.

I reject the argument that celebrities and role models should be treated harshly so that it sets an example. Everyone is equal before the law.

The court also asked Rhea to mark her presence for 10 days at the police station. She has also been asked to deposit her passport and not travel abroad without the permission of the court.

The Special NDPS Court on Tuesday extended the judicial custody of the brother-sister duo and 18 others, arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau, till October 20. The actor had moved the high court in September after her first bail plea was denied by a special court in Mumbai on September 11.

Rhea Chakraborty, who had a relationship with actor Sushant Singh Rajput, was arrested on September 8 by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

The NCB is probing the drug angle in this case under criminal sections of the NDPS Act after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) shared with it a report following the cloning of two mobile phones of Rhea.

Various angles surrounding the death of the Sushant Singh Rajput are being probed by three federal agencies- the NCB, the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Besides her, 19 others including her brother Showik Chakraborty, drug peddlers, suppliers, and persons linked with the film industry have also been arrested so far, and several top actresses have been questioned.

Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead at his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai police's conclusion that it was a case of suicide was contested by many and with murder theories mushrooming on social media.

Meanwhile, the forensic department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in its report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has hinted that the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was suicide and not murder.