Sushant Singh Rajput's family accused Rhea Chakraborty of abetment to suicide
Highlights
- Supreme Court asked Mumbai Police to hand over all evidence to CBI
- Big win for Bihar in its tussle with Maharashtra over the probe
- Rhea Chakraborty wanted FIR against her transferred from Patna to Mumbai
Here's your 10-point cheatsheet in this big story:
Actor Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant Singh Rajput's girlfriend, had asked the Supreme Court to transfer the FIR or First Information Report registered by his family in Patna to Mumbai.
The Supreme Court said since the Mumbai police had registered only an accidental death report, it had limited investigation powers. The Bihar police, however, registered a "full-fledged FIR" which already stands referred to the CBI, the court said.
Maharashtra has been asked to cooperate with the CBI probe and provide all assistance. If any other case was registered in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput's death, it would also be probed by the CBI, the top court said.
Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. The Mumbai Police said it was suicide and had been investigating whether he was suffering from depression and had felt slighted by film industry insiders and cliques.
More than a month later, Sushant Singh Rajput's father KK Singh filed a case in Bihar accusing Rhea Chakraborty and her family of cheating his son financially and mentally harassing him.
The Bihar Police complaint led to investigations by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate into the actor's financial status and his father's complaint that crores were taken out of his account.
Rhea Chakraborty, who has been hounded on social media and has been targeted by the actor's family and friends, went to the Supreme Court asking that the Bihar case, which was taken over by the CBI, be transferred to Mumbai.
The 28-year-old actor has denied Sushant Singh's father's allegations as "total nonsense". In her court arguments, she had said the move to supersede the Mumbai Police investigation had become about politics ahead of the Bihar election.
Soon after the court order, reactions poured in from Bihar and also from the film industry. "We welcome the decision of Supreme Court to allow CBI to continue with its probe of Sushant death case on the basis of FIR filed in Bihar. Our stand vindicated," tweeted Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, an indication of the political impact of the case ahead of elections in Bihar.
Sushant Singh Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti, who had been campaigning for a CBI investigation, tweeted: "Thank you God! You have answered our prayers!! But it is just the beginning... the first step towards the truth! Full faith on CBI!!"
