Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Mumbai police did not lodge FIR due to political pressure, Bihar government tells SC

The Bihar government on Thursday laid out its justification before the Supreme Court for lodging a case in Bihar in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

It said apparent political pressure in Maharashtra resulted in the Mumbai police neither registering an FIR, nor extending any cooperation to state police in conducting the investigation expeditiously.

Read | SSR death case: SC reserves judgement on Rhea's plea to shift probe from Patna to Mumbai

The state government maintained that the action of the Bihar Police in registering the FIR on July 25 and undertaking the investigation was not only within its jurisdiction but the discharge of such an obligation by it was also entirely valid and legal.

"Simultaneously, on the other hand, non-registration of an FIR by Mumbai Police is not only entirely inexplicable but also contrary to law," it said.

In a written submission filed in the court, the state government opposed a plea by actor Rhea Chakraborty, live-in partner of actor Sushant Singh Rajput to transfer the FIR lodged by his father K K Singh in Patna to Mumbai.

It also pointed out that Rhea had herself Tweeted to the Union Home Minister for an investigation by the CBI. Even before the court, she reiterated the same thing.

Since the CBI took over the probe on a recommendation by the central government on August 5, nothing further was called for in the present transfer petition, which deserved to be rejected, the submissions settled by senior advocate Maninder Singh and filed by advocate Keshav Mohan said.

Also Read | Bihar lacks jurisdiction in Sushant death case, Maharashtra government tells the Supreme Court; father questions probe direction

"No impediment would deserve to be allowed to come in the way of CBI to undertake and complete the investigation expeditiously," it said.

A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy had on Tuesday reserved its judgement on the transfer petition by Rhea and asked the parties to submit written submissions by Thursday.

In her written submissions, Rhea contended that the Patna police could not have lodged an FIR there as no part of the alleged offence took place there.

"The case registered by the Bihar Police was transferred to the CBI, for the reasons of ‘sensitivity’ and ‘inter-state ramifications’. The concept of sensitivity is alien to criminal jurisprudence," she maintained.

The investigations in Bihar were totally illegal and such illegal proceedings cannot be transferred to CBI by way of illegal executive orders, she added.

Moreover, the consent by the Bihar government was given merely to render the present petition infructuous.

She also submitted that the charge levelled against her of confining and cutting-off Sushant from his family was contradictory as the Patna FIR itself mentioned that immediately prior to the incident on June 14, 2020, one of Rajput's sisters had stayed with him.