NCB moves SC challenging Bombay HC's decision to grant bail to Rhea Chakraborty in drugs case

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to actress Rhea Chakraborty, arrested over drugs-related charges in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian will hear the plea on 18 March. On 7 October, last year the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the actress and directed her to deposit a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. It had however rejected the bail plea her brother Showik Chakraborty, who is also an accused in the case, and an alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar. Rhea, her brother and the other accused were arrested in September last year by the NCB in connection with its probe into the drugs angle related to the case of Rajput’s death. While granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty and two others, the high court had directed them to deposit their passports with the NCB and not to leave the country without permission of the special NDPS court. It had asked Rhea to deposit a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and directed her to visit the NCB office at 11 am on the first day of every month for next six months. All those who have been granted bail, including Rhea, will also have to seek permission of the NCB’s investigating officer to go out of Mumbai, the court had said. Rajput, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on 14 June last year.