After nearly a month in jail, Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail by the Bombay High Court today. However, her brother Showik’s bail was denied.
As per Mumbai Mirror and NDTV reports, Bombay HC said Rhea was ‘not part of chain of the drug dealers’, while rejecting NCB’s theory that she had harboured and financed SSR’s drug addiction.
Here are some key points made by the judge:
1) Not Guilty of Any Offence Involving Commercial Quantity or Sections 19, 24 or 27A
As per India Today report, NCB investigation did not reveal any recovery of drugs, either from Rhea or Sushant’s home.
Judge said – “There are reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant, Rhea Chakraborty, is not guilty of any offence punishable under sections 19, 24 or 27A or any other offence involving commercial quantity of contraband.”
2) No Criminal Antecedents; Not Part of a Chain of Drug dealers
The judgement further stated, “There are no other criminal antecedents against her. She is not part of the chain of drug dealers. She has not forwarded the drugs illegally procured by her to somebody else to earn monetary or other benefits.”
3) NCB’s Interpretation 27A of NDPS Act; Highly Disproportionate
The court called NCB’s interpretation of the Section 27 A highly disproportionate and unreasonable. It said that Rhea’s actions couldn’t be stretched to allege ‘harbouring drugs’ for Sushant.
“I am unable to agree with the submission that giving money to another for consuming drugs would mean encouraging such a habit and would mean ‘financing’ or ‘harbouring’ as envisaged under Section 27A of the NDPS Act (law on financing drugs, directly or indirectly).”
Judge also said, “By applying the interpretation of Section 27A by NCB, if some other person like a friend or a relative pays money for such consumption, then the person who actually consumes the drug can be punished only up to one year or can get immunity under Section 64-A of NDPS Act; but the person who gives money for purchasing that drug faces the prospect of spending twenty years in jail. This is highly disproportionate and would be extremely unreasonable.”
4) Court Rejects NCB’s Argument That Celebs Should Be Treated Harshly To Set An Example
The judge said – “I do not agree. Everybody is equal before law. No celebrity or role model enjoys any special privilege before the Court of law. Similarly, such person also does not incur any special liability when he faces law in the Courts. Each case will have to be decided on its own merits irrespective of the status of the accused.”
5) Not Likely To Commit Offence on Bail
The court pointed out that there was no basis for NCB’s worry that Rhea can alert other witnesses or destroy evidence.
“Since she has no criminal antecedents, there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.”
Noting that NCB did not seek her custody, the judge said that meant they were satisfied with her interrogation and she had cooperated in that investigation.
6) Strict Bail Conditions
The High Court has ordered Rhea to mark her presence for 10 days at 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.