SC allows CBI probe in Sushant Singh Rajput death case

The Supreme Court of India has permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the circumstance leading the death of Bollywood film star Sushant Singh  Rajput overruling the objections of the Maharashtra Government and the actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty saying the Mumbai Police have registered only an accidental death report about the death. Therefore, it had limited investigation powers, whereas the case registered by Bihar Police is a full-fledged FIR that has been already referred to CBI. The apex court emphasized that the probe into the case has been ordered by the court and Maharashtra government must comply and assist CBI. Maharashtra Government had pleaded that the Mumbai Police should be allowed to continue the investigation. Sushant Singh Rajput’s father  Krishna Kishore Singh had registered an FIR in Patna suspecting the alleged suicide committed by the actor in his  Mumbai residence on June 14 and named Rhea and others for abatement to his son’s death.  The country’s apex judiciary  Wednesday, August 19  upheld the Bihar government’s recommendation to transfer the FIR lodged in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case in Patna to the CBI. The apex court said that the Bihar government is competent to transfer the case to the CBI for investigation. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said that FIR registered by Bihar Police on the complaint of Rajput’s father Krishna Kishore Singh is correct and the reference to the CBI is lawful. The top court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who had sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had said that only FIR lodged in the case was lodged in Bihar. The Enforcement Directorate has also started its separate probe in the matter, he informed the SC. Rajput, 34, originally hailing from Bihar, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai  and since then Mumbai Police has been probing the case keeping in mind various angles. JP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy hailed the Supreme Court’s order for a CBI probe into the mysterious suicidal death of Sushant Singh Rajput. Swamy took to Twitter and wrote: “CBI jay ho”. Hrishikesh Roy said. Dr Swamy, former  Professor at IIT-Delhi and Harvard on August 16 had tweeted alleging the death of  Sushant Singh Rajput as a case of murder. edited by PK Chakravarty with courtesy to Livemint for the picture