Maharashtra government on Saturday ( August 8, 2020) submitted an affidavit in a sealed cover before the Supreme Court of India in connection with the probe in the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Challenging the FIR filed on 25 of July against Actor Rhea Chakraborty and 5 others for the abetment of suicide, registered in Patna and subsequently transferred to the CBI.
On August 5, 2020, the court granted 3 days to all parties to submit a reply and sought an update from the State of Maharashtra on the Investigation done by the Mumbai Police.
The recommendation by the Addl. CJM, Patna to transfer the investigation into the FIR by the CBI bristles with mala fide, and also the same is void ab intio.
It is further submitted that the jurisdiction of CBI is confined only to the Union territories for investigation of offenses notified under section 3 of the DSPE act. The Consent of the concerned state government is required under section 6 of the DSPE act. Further, the CBI requires a corresponding notification from the central government under the section of 5 of the DSPE act before taking up the investigation of a case outside the UT. In other words, law, and order being a state subject, the CBI derives the jurisdiction only after a valid consent is given. As the state of Maharashtra has not given any consent as provided under section 6 for transferring the investigation to the CBI, therefore the investigation into the FIR cannot be transferred to the CBI. Bihar government has no jurisdiction to ask for a probe by the Central agency. It has even questioned the legitimacy of Bihar Police's probe in this case. In the facts and circumstances of the present case it is only the state of Maharashtra, which is competent to give consent, the alleged cause of action completely arose within the state", the affidavit argues.
In its reply, the Maharashtra government has also added that Sushant's father KK Singh was not "within his rights" in registering a complaint in Patna as the alleged offense had taken place in Mumbai. The FIR was registered under the charges of 'abetment of suicide and 'committing criminal breach of trust'.
The court will next hear the matter on 11th August. Earlier in the day, Sushant's father had informed the top court, in a counter-affidavit, that Rhea has already begun to influence witnesses connected with the case and has also taken a U-turn on the CBI probe.
"Nevertheless, the email is sent after the registration of the FIR and one day before the filing of the present transfer petition, and thus the said email seems to be procured by the petitioner (Rhea) from the potential witness, who seems to be already under her influence," said the affidavit, filed through advocate Nitin Saluja.
The Centre on Friday (August7) had moved the Supreme Court seeking to be made a party to Rhea Chakraborty's plea for transferring the FIR from Patna to Mumbai.
