The 34-year-old actor was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14 (Photo: Sushant Singh Rajput/Facebook)

The Centre moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking to make itself a party to actor Rhea Chakraborty’s petition in Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Chakraborty, who is being investigated by the CBI on charges of abetting Rajput’s suicide, has sought transfer of the FIR filed against her by the Bihar Police to Mumbai. The court will hear the matter again next week.

“On the transfer of investigation of the case to CBI, it is clear that the Union of India is a necessary and proper party to the present proceedings,” the Centre told the court while seeking to implead itself in the case. The 34-year-old actor was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sought a report from Maharashtra on the status of the probe into Rajput’s death, saying “whether there is any criminality in the situation is the matter to be investigated”. The SC bench, headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy, also asked Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajput’s father to file their replies on Chakraborty’s petition seeking transfer of case from Patna to Mumbai.

The CBI has re-registered Patna Police’s FIR, with Chakraborty and her relatives as key accused among the six booked in the case.

Meanwhile, Rhea Chakraborty gave her statement to the Enforcement Directorate, which has registered a money laundering case against the actor and a few of her relatives based on the Bihar Police FIR. PTI reported that the statements of Chakraborty, her business manager, Shruti Modi (who also worked for Rajput), and her brother Showik were recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Following Sushant’s death in June, while Mumbai Police was probing the case, the actor’s father, K K Singh, lodged an FIR in Patna against Rhea and five others. In the FIR, Singh has alleged that Rs 15 crore was siphoned off from Sushant’s account in one year “to bank accounts of persons not known or connected to the late actor”.