The case against Priyanka Singh, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput‘s sister, stands, said the Bombay High Court on Monday, Bar and Bench reported. The court, however, dismissed the case against co-accused Meetu Singh, Rajput’s other sister. Both sisters were accused of getting him medications on false prescriptions.
The cases were filed by Rhea Chakraborty, Rajput’s girlfriend, who is being investigated by several agencies after the actor’s family accused her of playing a role in his death. Rhea Chakraborty is currently out on bail.
Rajput died by suicide on June 14, 2020. Subsequently, his family filed cases against Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty on grounds of involving Rajput in money laundering and procurement of drugs. During the investigation, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said that Rhea Chakraborty and Showik Chakraborty had facilitated drug deliveries and made payments for drugs.
After 91 days of the actor’s demise, Rhea Chakraborty had alleged that the sisters had conspired with a doctor, Tarun Kumar, to procure a “false” prescription to procure banned medicines. A case was filed by the Mumbai Police on the basis of this complaint. Rhea Chakraborty submitted WhatsApp chats exchanged between Rajput and Priyanka Singh in support of her accusations.
In turn, both the sisters registered another FIR claiming that Rhea Chakraborty intended to “concoct a whole new story entirely different from the statements made” by her in the Supreme Court and before the media.
Since the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the case against the sisters are filed with Mumbai police, they sought an investigation into the “malicious and mala fide activities of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government, for which they have sought damages under public law.”
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who is representing the sisters, said that there was no clarification from Rhea Chakraborty on the delay of 91 days in filing her FIR. He said that the FIR could not be registered with the Mumbai Police when the Supreme Court had transferred the case to the CBI.
Chakraborty’s lawyer advocate Satish Maneshinde said that after Rajput’s prescription was leaked on social media, after which Chakraborty realised that the medicines were bought through the prescriptions sent by the late actor’s sister and that those medicines could contribute to the cause for his death. She then immediately approached the police, Maneshinde said. He said that Rhea Chakraborty could not have filed a complaint with the CBI, so she approached the Mumbai Police.
Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, representing the Mumbai Police, said that the prescribed medicines were advised to Rajput without any online consultation and they also appear in the list of psychotropic substances under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Singh argued that the allegations were baseless as according to the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, the medicines could have been prescribed to a patient in the first consultation.
The order was initially reserved by a bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik on January 7.
While holding the case against Priyanka Singh, the bench said: “There is prima facie case found against Priyanka Singh and there should not be any impediment against investigation against her.”
