'Without Valid Consent From Maharashtra Govt., CBI Has No Jurisdiction To Investigate Sushant Singh Rajput's Death': Mumbai Police Tells SC [Read Affidavit]

The Mumbai police has filed its affidavit before the Supreme Court challenging the July 25 FIR, at the instance of Sushant Singh Rajput's father against actor Rhea Chakraborty and 5 others for abetment to suicide, registered in Patna and subsequently transfered to the CBI. The affidavit reads that pending the present proceedings, the CBI ought not to have gone ahead and registered the case with it or constituted a team for conducting the investigation. It ought to have awaited the final decision of the present proceedings at the hands of the Apex court, especially in view of this court order passed on August 5. The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it has accepted the Bihar Government's recommendation for a CBI probe into the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy refused to grant a stay in Chakraborty's plea seeking transfer of an FIR filed against her from Patna to Mumbai and the stay on the investigation by the Bihar police. The bench granted 3 days to all parties to file reply and sought an update from State of Maharashtra on the Investigation done by Mumbai Police. "Suffice it to say that, the indecent haste with which the CBI has proceeded in this regard speaks for itself, regarding the bona fides of all involved in this exercise", the Mumbai Police contends. Narrating the sequence of events, the affidavit avers that Rajput passed away on 14 June at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. On a telephone call having been received, the Mumbai police visited the residence of the deceased and saw the body of the deceased lying on the bed. The sister of the deceased and four others were present at the said residence. The Mumbai police registered an accidental death report and commenced enquiry about the unnatural death of the deceased under section 174 of the CRPC. After the inquest was completed, the Mumbai police commenced the investigation under section 175 of the CRPC to ascertain the cause of death of the deceased. "During the course of investigation, the Mumbai police have till date, recorded statements of 56 persons and are investigating into the facts and circumstances leading to the death of the deceased from each and every angle. The Mumbai police are investigating the incident fairly, professionally, properly and impartially", it is pressed. Asserting that in compliance with the August 5 order, the report regarding the status of investigation into the said ADR has been filed in a sealed cover in this court, which is "self-explanatory", the Mumbai police has argued that the investigation is still continuing and hence, it is in the interests of justice that the details of the investigation are not shared with Chakraborty or any other persons except this court. "That the report has been filed in a sealed cover so that this court is able to satisfy itself about the fairness, impartiality as also the professionalism with which the said investigation is being conducted by the Mumbai police into the said ADR", it is stressed. The affidavit further contends that "About 38 days of the death of the deceased, the father of the deceased filed a complaint before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna, alleging offences under sections 341, 342, 380, 406, 420, 306, 506, and 120 B of the IPC and the Bihar police has registered an FIR against the petitioner and her family members, even though not only the death of the deceased but also each and every part of the cause and consequence relating to the said death has taken place at Mumbai, and in any case, in the state of Maharashtra". It is pointed out that the father was entitled to approach the chief judicial magistrate, Bandra, Mumbai, under section 156(3) of the CRPC for an order directing investigation into the death of the deceased but even that was not done. It is urged that Rajput's father, despite being aware of the fact that the Mumbai police have been investigating the said ADR, did not make any request to the Mumbai police regarding registering FIR against the petitioner and her family members or any ground whatsoever, that it is not the case that the Mumbai police had refused to register the FIR. It is insisted that on the contrary, the statements recorded of all the close relatives of the deceased, including the father, as soon as possible after the said death, demonstrate that none of them had any suspicion about the suicide committed by the deceased or against anybody. "It is most important to note that these are the statements recorded first in point of time, unlike the subsequent statements with numerous improvements that are apparently tainted with afterthought, to say the least", reads the affidavit. It is advanced that neither the judicial jurisdiction lay in the state of Bihar nor the investigative jurisdiction lay with the Bihar police. A perusal of the FIR that is now registered by the Bihar police shows that none of the alleged offences...

'Without Valid Consent From Maharashtra Govt., CBI Has No Jurisdiction To Investigate Sushant Singh Rajput's Death': Mumbai Police Tells SC [Read Affidavit]

Mehal Jain

Tags