On Thursday, the Bombay High Court quashed the Look Out Circulars (LOCs) that were issued against Rhea Chakraborty, along with her brother and father, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding its investigation into the demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Manjusha Deshpande granted the petitions filed by Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, and their father Indrajit challenging the LOCs issued against them in 2020. CBI's advocate Shreeram Shirsat urged the bench to suspend the effect of its ruling for four weeks to allow the agency to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The HC bench, however, refused to stay its order. Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. While the Mumbai police registered an Accidental Death Report and started a probe into the case, Rajput’s father in July 2020 lodged a complaint with the Bihar police, alleging that the actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family members had abetted his suicide.
The case was subsequently transferred to the CBI, which has been conducting an investigation into it since then. The LOCs were issued in August 2020 against Rhea Chakraborty, her brother, and their father. In September of the following year, the high court temporarily suspended the LOC issued against Showik, allowing him to travel abroad.
In 2020, both Rhea and Showik were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with a drugs case related to Rajput. They were subsequently released on bail.