A special court in Mumbai on Friday, September 11, rejected the bail pleas filed by Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik. He was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with the drugs case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Bail rejected once again
Today, the bail applications of the accused were rejected by judge G B Gurao of the special court hearing cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
A magistrate court earlier rejected the actor's bail plea, and she was sent to judicial custody till September 22.
Rhea to stay in jail
Rhea Chakraborty will continue her stay in Byculla jail, where she was taken after a magistrate sent her to judicial custody till September 22. Her lawyer will now approach the Bombay High Court for bail.
In her bail request, Rhea Chakraborty had retracted her confession and said she was "coerced into making self-incriminatory confessions". She said she had "not committed any crime whatsoever and had been falsely implicated in the case". She had also claimed rape and death threats and "a severe toll on her mental health and well-being" because of multiple investigations.
Lawyer Satish Maneshinde's statement
Lawyer Satish Maneshinde, representing Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik, said:
Once we get a copy of the NDPS Special Court order, we will decide next week on the future action, about approaching the Bombay High Court.
While NCB says that Rhea will tamper with the evidence if she is out
But the Narcotics Control Bureau argued that if released on bail, the actor "may tamper with the evidence and also try to win over witnesses using her position in the society and money power".
The other six accused
Along with Rhea, the Mumbai Sessions Court on Friday rejected the bail applications of all six accused - Showik Chakraborty, Abdul Basit, Zaid Vilatra, Dipesh Sawant and Samuel Miranda.
Rhea procured drugs
Rhea Chakraborty had conscious knowledge of drugs used by her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput, said the agency, and had "made herself part of this offence by procuring drugs" for him.
The anti-drugs bureau said Rhea Chakraborty used her credit card and payment gateways to facilitate financial transactions related to dealing with "illicit drug trafficking". It also insisted her confession was "voluntary", not coerced, and admissible in the court of law.
The anti-drug agency said the drugs financed (by Rhea Chakraborty) were not meant for personal consumption but for supplying them to another person. "Therefore, Section 27A of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) is applicable, and she cannot escape the clutches of law," it argued.
Meanwhile, Bollywood comes out in support of Rhea and start social media trend, #ReleaseRhea and #JusticeForRhea.
Check out their posts below: