Claiming that the case filed in Bihar in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Maharashtra government maintained that the Bandra police’s probe into the accidental death report (ADR) was going on. The state will oppose the transfer plea in the Supreme Court during its hearing on Tuesday.
Rajput, 34, was found dead in his apartment in Bandra on June 14. A month later, his father, KK Singh, in his complaint, alleged there were some unexplained transfers from his son’s bank account, involving actor Rhea Chakraborty and others. The Patna Police then filed an FIR in the case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is looking into the money laundering angle. The state government has, in its affidavit in the top court, contested the jurisdiction of the Patna Police in the case and pointed at the haste in which CBI registered an FIR in the case in Patna.
“The Central government told the top court that it has transferred the case to the central agency, but the court has not given its nod. We have contested the registration of the FIR and its investigation by the Patna Police has been contested by us. Both the acts are bad in the law and against federal structure as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs’ circular issued in 2013,” an official from the home department said.
Home minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said the SC was yet to decide on the transfer of the case and they were awaiting the top court’s decision.
The state government’s contention is that as per section 177 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), every offence has to be probed by the police in whose jurisdiction it has been committed. It has also said that the offences registered by Patna Police on the complaint of Singh have taken place in Mumbai. It has also stated the FIR registered at Patna should be transferred to Mumbai and the decision on the transfer should not be taken without the consent of Maharashtra government, as per provisions in section 3 of the Delhi Special Police Establishments Act. The affidavit submitted in the Apex court, through its standing counsel Sachin Patil on Saturday, also stated the act of filing an FIR was politically motivated and revelation of the details to the media by the investigating officers visiting Mumbai jeopardised the investigation by the Mumbai Police.
The home department officials, however, are sceptical about the delay by Mumbai Police in filing an FIR in the case.
“The Mumbai Police should have either converted the ADR into FIR or closed the case if it did not get any significant proof on the allegations. They did not act swiftly even after the demand for CBI probe was raised first. The act of stamping Patna DCP Vinay Tiwari [who had come to the city and was forced to home quarantine] is likely to go against us as it is seen as hindrance in their probe. Also, the precedent verdicts on transfer of probe to the CBI are contradictory,” the official said.
