A month after the Bombay High Court rejected bail to actor Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik, arrested by the NCB in a drugs case, he has sought bail again citing a recent Supreme Court ruling.In a bail application filed before the special NDPS court earlier this week, Showik said that in light of last month’s SC judgment, which held that statements made before NCB officers cannot be considered as confessions, there is no reason to keep him behind bars.The 24-year old was arrested on September 4 and has since been denied bail by the special court and the Bombay High Court, which had observed that he was in touch with drug dealers and facilitated the procurement of drugs to supply them to actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who died by suicide on June 14. The court had relied on statements recorded by NCB officers of five accused, including Rhea as well as Sushant’s cook Dipesh Sawant and manager Samuel Miranda. All three have been granted bail in the case.
Showik’s bail plea, filed through lawyer Satish Maneshinde, said that no drug was recovered from his possession and NCB’s only evidence is the statements of the co-accused.It added that Showik was denied bail on the grounds that voluntary statements were made by other accused detailing his role in the case. The plea said that these statements now cannot be admissible evidence after the SC ruled that NCB officers are to be considered “police officers” and hence, all statements recorded by them under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cannot be considered confessions.The plea further stated that the HC had said that Showik would have the right to approach the special court for bail after the investigation is complete. It added that no new evidence has been brought to light after his bail applications were rejected.