Rhea seeks bail\, cites threat to life in jail

Mumbai: Actor Rhea Chakraborty has moved the special NDPS court seeking bail, a day after she was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on charges of allegedly arranging and financing consumption of marijuana by her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput with the help of her brother, Showik, Sushant’s house help Samuel Miranda and cook Dipesh Sawant. The bail plea, alongwith that of Showik’s will be heard on Thursday. Showik was arrested last week.
On Tuesday, a magistrate court rejected Rhea’s plea for bail. She was then taken to Byculla jail where she is currently lodged.
In the fresh bail plea submitted before Special judge GB Gurao, Rhea’s advocate Satish Maneshinde said that the offences against her are bailable. The plea also said that in contravention with the law, Rhea was interrogated only by male officers and no woman officer or constable was present in the room.

“That during her custody Rhea was coerced into making self-incriminating confessions. Through an application made on Tuesday, Rhea has formally retracted all such incriminating confessions,” the plea said. The plea said that given the circumstances, she feared for her life in jail.
The plea said there is nothing on record to suggest that Rhea was in any way connected with the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export or use of any cannabis, ganja or marijuana. The plea also refuted that she was involved in financing, illicit trafficking, or harbouring of offenders in relation to any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
“Given that no drugs or psychotropic substances have been seized from her and the allegations if any would pertain strictly to small quantities the offence if any and that is bailable,” the plea said.

The bail claimed that the case of NCB, in layman’s terms, is that Rhea would coordinate the delivery of drugs for her then boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput, and occasionally pay for them herself. “In essence her alleged role, if any, is the purchase of a small quantity of drugs for her then boyfriend which would squarely fall within the ambit of a section which is punishable with a maximum imprisonment of up to one year or with fine or both. Hence, the allegations against Rhea make out an offence that is bailable in nature,” the plea said.

Maneshinde also sought parity for Rhea with other accused in the case who have been granted bail. While Kaizan Ebrahim was granted bail on the first day he was produced before the court, even those from whom drugs were allegedly recovered-Abbas Lakhani and Karna Arora- were granted the relief at the end of their police custody remand.