Actress Rhea Chakraborty, the main accused in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the Patna FIR of July 25, could at best be regarded as a Zero FIR and transferred to the Mumbai Police.
Zero FIR is an FIR lodged in any police station irrespective of the location of incidence or jurisdiction.
In her written submission before the top court, Rhea also insisted that Rajput’s father has made baseless allegations against her.
“A plain reading of the subject FIR is clearly indicative of the fact that no such consequence of such alleged act has ensued within the State of Bihar. The maximum that may be done in such instance, is for the FIR to be registered as a “Zero FIR” and the same may be forwarded to the police station having jurisdiction over the matter,” said Rhea in the written submission.
The apex court had on Tuesday reserved its order on the plea of main accused Rhea Chakraborty seeking transfer of the case registered in Patna to Mumbai and asked all the concerned parties to file their written submissions.
The case was filed by the late actor’s father KK Singh accusing Rhea, her family and several others for abetment to suicide.
Rhea contended that the investigations in Bihar are “totally illegal and such illegal proceedings cannot be transferred to the CBI in the present manner by way of illegal executive orders”.
“The Petitioner has no objection if the transfer of investigation to CBI is done in exercise of powers conferred upon this court under Article 142 of the Constitution of India. Otherwise, the present transfer from Bihar Police to CBI as is done is totally without jurisdiction and contrary to law,” said the written submission.
She argued that transfer of investigation to CBI at the behest of Bihar Police is wholly without jurisdiction.
“Admittedly, the case registered by the Bihar Police was transferred to the CBI for the reasons of a)’sensitivity’ and b) ‘inter-state ramifications’. The concept of sensitivity is alien to criminal jurisprudence. There is not even a remote whisper of any material to support the theory of ‘inter-state ramification’. The offence if at all, as alleged is completely within the jurisdiction of Mumbai even as per the ED,” said the written submission.
It also added that in any case, a perusal of the FIR would indicate that no cognizable offence has been made out even on the facts and circumstances mentioned in the FIR.
“The averments in the FIR in no manner indicate how the alleged actions of the Petitioner led to the suicide of the deceased. Thus, the very registration of an FIR based on such contrary facts and baseless allegations without any substance demonstrate the illegality of the entire process.
“Hence, it is humbly submitted that in such circumstances, no transfer to CBI is mandated or made out and the allegation if any, ought to be investigated under the jurisdiction/supervision of the competent court in Mumbai,” said the submission.
Earlier on August 7, the Nitish Kumar government had told the Supreme Court that the transfer petition filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput case is “misconceived and not maintainable”.
The Bihar Police had filed an FIR against Chakraborty on a complaint by the Sushant Singh’s father, alleging that she illegally transferred Rs 15 crore from the actor’s Mumbai bank account and mentally harassed him.
On August 6, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against six persons, including Rhea Chakraborty and her family members, on the basis of the FIR filed by Bihar Police on his family’s complaint.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on July 31 filed a money laundering case against Rhea Chakraborty and five others over suspicious transactions worth Rs 15 crore. The case was filed after ED acted on an FIR filed by Sushant’s father KK Singh with Bihar police, accusing Chakraborty of illegally transferring that amount from his son’s bank account.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14.