Following the arrest of Showik Chakraborty and Samuel Miranda in the drug probe connected to the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) further arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty on 8 September.
The NCB, in its remand, has written that Rhea would procure drugs for Sushant. However, a legal expert is of the opinion that the NCB’s case does not hold water.
How Strong Is the Drug Case?
Following Rhea’s arrest, The Quint reached out to senior lawyer Shekhar Bhandare, who has fought several drug-related cases. Bhandare is of the the opinion that Rhea, along with the others, will get bail in the next few days because the NCB had not seized any drugs. Besides, according to Bhandare, if a case is being made basis electronic evidence, then it will not be very strong.
He said that it is true the WhatsApp chats pertain to drugs, but it will be hard for NCB to say whether these drugs were delivered or not.
“Now, whether the statements given to NCB will be admissible in the court or not, is on the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court to decide. If a statement is recorded under a provision of Section 15 of the TADA act, the statement is admissible in court,” said Bhandare.
Contents of the Remand Copy
According to the remand copy, Rhea’s brother Showik on being probed by the NCB, said that Rhea had full knowledge of the drugs, to the extent that on occasion she had paid for them.
Sushant’s house manager, Miranda has also named Rhea in his statement, which is also a part of the remand copy. According to it, Miranda told the NCB that Sushant and Rhea would look into the payment for drugs.
Further, Dipesh Sawant, too, had named Rhea.
Rhea Accepts that Drugs Were Talked About
NCB’s remand copy mentions Rhea’s statement. According to it, Rhea has confirmed the statements of all these people and admitted that she did talk to Samuel Miranda, Showik and Dipesh about drugs. Citing all this, the NCB has alleged that she was part of a drug syndicate and would provide drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput.
On the basis of this, the NCB has arrested Rhea Chakraborty. However, the copy has no mention of Rhea taking the drugs. Therefore, the NCB presently has no information on whether Rhea took those drugs or not.
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