NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday dismissed CBI’s plea against a Bombay high court decision to quash the look out circulars (LOCs) issued against actor Rhea Chakraborty , her brother and her father in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, and pulled up the probe agency for filing the appeal.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said the CBI appeal was frivolous and filed only because a high-profile person was involved.
The bench asked the state counsel not to file such an unnecessary petition.
The LOCs had been issued by immigration authorities on the request of the CBI, which has been probing Rajput’s death on a complaint made by his family. Bombay HC quashed the LOCs in Feb this year after finding the agency had failed to spell out its reasons for the issuance of these LOCs.
Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Sept 2020 after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. She was granted bail by Bombay HC.
The high court on Feb 22 quashed the LOCs issued against Chakraborty and her brother Showik and their parents — Indrajit and Sandhya. It held that the LOCs — issued against them in 2020 — could not be sent out on the mere registration of an FIR, while allowing the pleas of the Chakrabortys.
The actor and her family members were observed to have cooperated with CBI in its investigation by appearing before the agency whenever summoned without attempting to evade it.
“An LOC is a coercive measure to make the person surrender and as such interferes with the person’s right of personal liberty and free movement and curtails the fundamental right of an individual to travel, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the HC had said.
The HC bench added the reason for issuing an LOC — the apprehension of the probe agency — needed to be spelt out.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said the CBI appeal was frivolous and filed only because a high-profile person was involved.
The bench asked the state counsel not to file such an unnecessary petition.
The LOCs had been issued by immigration authorities on the request of the CBI, which has been probing Rajput’s death on a complaint made by his family. Bombay HC quashed the LOCs in Feb this year after finding the agency had failed to spell out its reasons for the issuance of these LOCs.
Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Sept 2020 after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. She was granted bail by Bombay HC.
The high court on Feb 22 quashed the LOCs issued against Chakraborty and her brother Showik and their parents — Indrajit and Sandhya. It held that the LOCs — issued against them in 2020 — could not be sent out on the mere registration of an FIR, while allowing the pleas of the Chakrabortys.
The actor and her family members were observed to have cooperated with CBI in its investigation by appearing before the agency whenever summoned without attempting to evade it.
“An LOC is a coercive measure to make the person surrender and as such interferes with the person’s right of personal liberty and free movement and curtails the fundamental right of an individual to travel, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the HC had said.
The HC bench added the reason for issuing an LOC — the apprehension of the probe agency — needed to be spelt out.
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