The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition from the CBI, the Maharashtra government, and the Bureau of Immigration, which challenged the Bombay High Court’s cancellation of look-out circulars (LOCs) against actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, and her father, Lt. Col. Indrajit Chakraborty (retd), in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. This ruling brings relief to Chakraborty and her family.
According to Live Law, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan commented that the petition was “frivolous” and seemed to have been filed only because the accused were “high-profile. “
“We are warning. You are filing such a frivolous petition, only because one of the accused is a high-profile person…It will be with exemplary cost. Both persons have deep roots in society,” Justice Gavai said when the CBI counsel sought a pass over of the matter, the report added.
“If you want cost and some compliments to CBI, we will pass-over,” Justice Gavai said.
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In February, the Bombay High Court canceled the CBI’s 2020 look-out circular against Rhea Chakraborty and her two family members in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande granted the petitions filed by Rhea Chakraborty, her brother, and their father to lift the travel restrictions imposed by the LOCs against them.
An LOC from an investigating agency can request the Bureau of Immigration to either detain a person, prevent them from boarding a flight, or notify the agency if the individual attempts to leave the country.
The high court lifted the LOC through its order, following a temporary suspension by a vacation bench in December, which allowed Rhea Chakraborty to travel to Dubai for an event despite CBI’s strong opposition.
In prior hearings, the bench had questioned the need for issuing LOCs simply based on the existence of a first information report (FIR) against the actress.
Jurisdiction became a point of debate as Sushant Singh Rajput’s family initially filed the FIR in Patna, but the CBI later took over the case in Delhi. Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyers argued that, given both parties lived in Mumbai and investigations were conducted there, Mumbai should have jurisdiction.
The bench expressed concern about the case pending since 2020 without a charge sheet from the CBI, stressing the importance of concluding legal matters. The court also questioned the need for issuing LOCs in this situation.
Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyers argued that an LOC should only be issued if there was clear evidence that the accused was deliberately avoiding arrest or court appearances.
The death of Sushant Singh Rajput at his Bandra home on June 14, 2020, led to widespread controversy and investigations by agencies like the CBI and NCB. Rhea Chakraborty, who was dating Sushant at the time, became a key figure in the investigation.
The CBI took over after an FIR was initially filed in Patna and then transferred by the Supreme Court. As part of the probe, LOCs were issued against Rhea and her brother.
