SSR death probe: Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer objects Bihar govt's involvement

As Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government seeks the transfer of investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case to the CBI, Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer breaks silence, invokes ‘federal stucture’ and claims that it doesn’t have any jurisdiction pertaining to the case. Sushant’s father has lodged an FIR against Chakraborty with Bihar Police for abetting his son’s suicide.

Bihar government cannot transfer the case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as it does not have jurisdiction in the matter, Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer said on Tuesday.

“There cannot be a transfer of the case as there is no legal basis for Bihar to get involved. At most, Bihar Police can register a Zero FIR and transfer it to the Mumbai Police. The transfer of a case on which they had no jurisdiction to the CBI has no legal sanctity,” advocate Satish Maneshinde, lawyer of Rhea, told media persons.
He said that the petition filed by Rhea Chakraborty in the Supreme Court claiming that the Bihar Police had no jurisdiction to investigate the case will continue.

“Having realised that Bihar has no jurisdiction, this illegal method has been adopted. Otherwise, you are interfering in the federal structure of our nation in a back door manner. It touches the very root of the federal structure,” Maneshinde said.

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Earlier today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the state government is recommending a CBI inquiry in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. He said that the late actor’s father spoke to Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) earlier in the day and gave his consent for the same.

He further said that the treatment meted out to the Superintendent of Police (SP) Patna (Central), Vinay Tiwari, in Mumbai, where he was put under home quarantine by Brihannmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) personnel, was “not right.”

Notably, BJP MLA Niraj Kumar Singh, a relative of the deceased actor, had raised the issue of Rajput’s death in the Bihar Legislative Assembly on Monday and demanded a CBI probe. The father of the late actor, KK Singh, had also requested Nitish Kumar to order a CBI investigation in the matter.

An FIR was filed by Patna Police against actor Rhea Chakraborty in the Rajput’s death case, on a complaint filed by KK Singh, under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including abetment of suicide. A team of Bihar Police is in Mumbai to probe the case.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had on Monday said that they are taking legal opinion to examine whether Bihar Police can investigate Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

Yesterday, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had also said that the investigation being conducted by the Mumbai Police in the case is progressing in the right direction.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

According to Mumbai Police, the statements of 56 people have been recorded till now in connection with the case, including the family of the actor, his domestic help and several industry persons.

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