The Supreme Court rejected Rhea Chakraborty’s plea for transfer of the Patna FIR to Mumbai and indirectly brought her under the probe radar in the Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case, including allegations of financial misappropriation levelled by Rajput’s father K K Singh.
Alarmed by registration of an FIR by Patna police, Chakraborty had moved to SC invoking Section 406 of the CrPC — which empowers the SC to effect inter-state transfer of cases in the interest of justice — for its transfer to Mumbai police, pleading that only the Mumbai police had jurisdiction over the incident which happened in the city.
Examining the scope of the SC’s powers under Section 406, Justice Hrishikesh Roy said, “The scope of exercise of this power is for securing the ends of justice. The precedents suggest that transfer plea under Section 406 CrPC were granted in cases where the court believed that the trial may be prejudiced and fair and impartial proceedings cannot be carried on, if the trial continues. Having considered the contour of the power under section 406 CrPC, it must be concluded that only cases and appeals (not investigation) can be transferred.” Justice Roy also cited the SC’s 1978 judgment in Ram Chander Singh Sagar case.
Within minutes of the SC endorsing CBI inquiry into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s alleged suicide case, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said, “Rhea Chakraborty ki ye haisiyat nahi hai ki woh Bihar ke mukhyamantri par tippani kare.”
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