MUMBAI: Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition by Priyanka Singh, sister of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, against a recent refusal by Bombay high court to quash an FIR lodged by Rhea Chakraborty accusing her of getting ‘bogus medical prescription’ via telemedicine.
The bench of Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian dismissed in one line her special leave petition (SLP).
In February, the HC had quashed the same September 7, 2020 FIR against Rajput’s other sister Meetu Singh. The FIR was quashed for being based only on suspicions and “vague allegations” said the HC, but in Priyanka’s case it had held, “We cannot overlook the serious allegations made in the complaint and material on record and the fact that investigation is in progress.”
“From the reading of the complaint and material on record, it is seen that the allegations are primarily against Priyanka Singh and Dr. Tarun Kumar,” the HC bench had said in their judgement, accepting prima facie the invocation of provisions under the NDPS Act in the FIR against Priyanka Singh.
“The complaint primarily proceeds on the allegation that the banned medicines prescribed by Dr.Tarun Kumar was at the behest of petitioner No.1 (Priyanka) who had knowledge that the banned medicine and heavy doses of medicine may result in chronic anxiety attack which may damage the health of Sushant Singh Rajput,” the HC had said.
Aggrieved, Priyanka had approached SC with an SLP for permission to challenge the HC judgement. Her SLP said it was “one of the rarest of rare cases” where the complainant—Rhea—withdrew her “main case” on September 14. It further said the HC had “overreached its power by examining allegations placed before the police through media reports.”
The SLP said the HC had failed to consider that the FIR lodged with Mumbai police was illegal and sans jurisdiction as “no second FIR could have been registered after the inquest proceedings by Maharashtra police were closed.”
Her case was that despite the CBI, which is investigating all cases related to the death of the actor, “clearly saying that no case was made out”, the HC did not quash the FIR. Her SLP relied on a SC ruling of 2014 to contend that the September 2020 FIR was registered after a delay of 91 days and without any preliminary inquiry, the conduct of the state smacked of “malice and vengeance’’ as Rhea herself is an accused in the case filed in Patna for abetment of Rajput’s suicide.
Rhea’s advocate Satish Maneshinde said, “We are overwhelmed by the order of the SC.”