Bihar Police has no jurisdiction to investigate in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case legally and otherwise, hence actor Rhea Chakraborty approached the Supreme Court and filed a Transfer Petition, her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said.
"Rhea Chakraborty has always been living in Mumbai. She was in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. She was not allowed to attend the funeral of Sushant Singh as her name was struck off from the list of 20," Maneshinde said.
Rhea was summoned by Mumbai Police on June 18 at Bandra Police Station, he said adding that "Her statement was recorded there. Subsequently, she was summoned to appear on July 17 at Santacruz Police Station. She appeared and recorded her supplementary statement."
"Later, when the Bihar Police came to Mumbai to investigate the case on the basis of an FIR registered in Patna, Rhea approached the Supreme Court and filed a Transfer Petition on July 30 for transfer of the case to Mumbai in view of the legal position that a case registered beyond the jurisdiction of the local police station where the alleged incident has taken place can only record a 'Zero FIR' and transfer it for the investigation to Mumbai where the criminal law has already been set in motion.
The Bihar Police has no jurisdiction to investigate the case legally and otherwise," he added. Rhea's lawyer also said that she is cooperating with Mumbai Police and she was always available for the investigation whenever called. Rhea has already recorded her statement with Mumbai Police twice on June 18 and July 17.
Satish Maneshinde's statement read as "The Petition Filed by Rhea Chakraborty in SC that Bihar Police had NO jurisdiction to Investigate the case will continue in SC. There cannot be a transfer of a case which had no legal basis for Bihar to get involved. At the most, it would be a 'Zero FIR' and transferable to Mumbai Police. The transfer of a case on which they had no jurisdiction to CBI has no legal sanctity. Having realised that Bihar has no jurisdiction this illegal method has been adopted. Otherwise, you are interfering in the Federal Structure of our Nation in a back door manner. It touches the very root of the Federal Structure on the basis of which India became a Republic by Union of States."
Rhea has approached the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the investigation in the case registered by the Bihar Police in the matter to Mumbai. Bihar government and the family of Sushant Singh Rajput have also filed caveats on the matter.
In another development in the case, Patna Superintendent of Police (SP) Vinay Tiwari, who is heading a team probing the case related to the actor's death, was home quarantined by the municipal authorities in Mumbai.
An FIR has been registered in Patna, based on a complaint filed by Rajput's father KK Singh, against actor Rhea Chakraborty under several sections including abetment to suicide. A team of Bihar Police is in Mumbai to probe the matter.
