Sushant Singh Rajput case: Bombay HC quashes FIR against Meetu Singh; no relief for Priyanka Singh

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed the complaint registered by the Mumbai Police against Meetu Singh, sister of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

However, the complaint against the other sister, Priyanka Singh, will continue to be probed, the Court ruled. In this light, the First Information Report (FIR), which also names Priyanka Singh and Dr Tarun Kumar as accused, survives, the Court held.

The order was pronounced by a Bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik, which had reserved the plea for orders on January 7, 2021, as per a report carried by Bar & Bench.

The Bench held, "There is prima facie case found against Priyanka Singh and there should not be any impediment against investigation against her."

While reserving the judgment on January 7, Justice Shinde made an oral observation that “from his (Rajput’s) face, one can make out that he was innocent and sober and very good human being. Even in ‘MS Dhoni’, everybody liked him especially in that film.”

In her complaint on the basis of which the FIR was filed, actress Rhea Chakraborty had alleged that the sisters conspired with Dr. Tarun Kumar to obtain a false prescription for administering banned medicines to the late Sushant Singh Rajput.

Challenging an FIR registered on the basis of this complaint before the Bombay High Court, the sisters claimed that the FIR was lodged to “concoct a whole new story entirely different from the statements made” by Chakraborty before the Supreme Court and media platforms.

They sought investigation into the malicious and malafide activities of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government, for which they have sought damages under public law.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the sisters, had argued that there was a delay of ninety-one days in filing the FIR, which was not explained by Chakraborty.

He had also pointed out that the allegations of prescribing banned medicines were baseless as the medicines could have been prescribed to a patient in the first consultation as per the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines.

He submitted that the FIR could not have been registered by the Mumbai Police as the investigation in the Sushant Singh Rajput case had been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Supreme Court.

Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Mumbai Police, highlighted certain evidence that was submitted before the police relating to prescribed medications which created enough doubt to initiate an investigation.

Kamat invited the Court’s attention to the purported prescription and extracts of the WhatsApp chats supplied by Chakraborty to point out that the medicines were being prescribed without online consultation and even appeared in the list of psychotropic substances under the NDPS Act.

To justify the delay in filing of FIR, advocate Satish Maneshinde argued that after Rajput’s prescription was leaked on social media, Chakraborty realised that the medicines were bought through these prescriptions. On realising that the medicines could have been a cause for his death, she immediately approached the police.

She approached the Mumbai Police because she could not have filed a complaint with the CBI, Maneshinde argued.

It was further contended that Chakraborty’s FIR brought forth a different chain of events than what was being claimed by Rajput’s family and those circumstances should be examined as it could give answers to the cause of the actor's death.