Not challenging bail granted to Rhea in drugs-related case: NCB to SC

The Narcotics Control Bureau NCB on Tuesday told the Supreme Court it was not challenging the bail granted to actor Rhea Chakraborty in connection with a drugsrelated probe linked to the death of film star Sushant Singh RajputAdditional Solicitor General S V Raju told a bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh that NCB is not challenging the bail but the question of law should be kept open with regard to Section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS ActThe top court which was hearing the NCBs petition against the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Chakraborty Rajputs girlfriend took note of the ASGs submission on a change in the antidrugs agencys stand on her bail but clarified that the HC judgement shall not be treated as precedent in any other caseHaving heard the ASG at this stage the challenge to the impugned order in so far as grant of bail may not be required However the question of law raised is left open to be considered in an appropriate case and as such the judgement may not be treated as precedent in any other case the bench saidThe NCB has charged Chakraborty under the stringent Section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act that pertains to financing and harbouring illegal drug trafficking It entails imprisonment of up to 10 years and a bar on grant of bailThe high court had said simply paying for a particular drug transaction does not qualify as financing drug trafficThe allegations against the applicant of spending money in procuring drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput will not therefore mean that she had financed illicit traffic the high court had saidIt had also noted that harbouring an offender as described under the Act would mean providing money for that persons drug consumption while also giving him shelter and foodWhile granting her bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh the high court had observed in its order that Chakraborty did not have criminal antecedents and it was unlikely that she would tamper with evidence or affect the probe while out on bailRajput for whom Rhea allegedly procured drugs had no apprehension of arrest and therefore the charge of harbouring too could not be applied it had said The court had also dismissed the argument that Rheas bail be rejected to send out a strong message to societyThe court also held that a detailed interpretation of the NDPS Act and previous judgments of the Supreme Court showed that all offences under the Act were nonbailable Also section 27A can be invoked even if the quantity of the drug seized is not commercial the judge saidIn India a bailable offence is under which a person can be enlarged on bail soon after arrest In nonbailable cases which include those of rape murder kidnapping human trafficking counterfeiting and terrorism the bail depends on the discretion of courtHowever in Chakrabortys case since there was no financing or harbouring of drugs or its consumers Section 27A could not be applied the HC saidRajput 34 was found hanging at his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14 2020 After a case of alleged abetment to suicide was registered against Chakraborty by Rajputs parents a parallel probe into alleged drug procurement by her also began on the basis of her WhatsApp chatsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever