Rhea Chakraborty's bail: Court order exposes motivated charges

The grant of bail by the Bombay High Court to actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death may not mean the end of all charges against her in the case.

The order might only show the court’s view that she need not be kept in custody and that her freedom would not jeopardise the case in any way. The court has also imposed conditions to ensure that she does not leave the country or try to influence the witnesses.

But the observations made by the court are important because they completely knock down the basis of the charges made against her. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had accused her of procuring drugs for Rajput and called her an “active member of a drug syndicate.’’ She was arrested on September 8 and had to spend about a month in jail on charges which now appear to be flimsy.

The court said that the actor was not a drug dealer and had not forwarded the drugs allegedly procured by her to somebody else for any benefit.

It also said that there were grounds to believe that she was guilty of any offence punishable under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) and made it clear that providing money for a particular transaction would not amount to financing illegal trade. It also rubbished the allegation that she had “harboured’’ Rajput.

All other related charges were also rejected, and the observations made by the court brought out the absurdity of those charges. Some of the clarifications and interpretations made by the court only made common sense and should have been clear to the investigating agency.

But it made a mountain of what may even have been less than a molehill of a drug, bought in good faith by the actor for her friend, and then tried to implicate her in a made-up case, though she had no record of any crimes.

The important question is who will compensate for the loss of freedom and reputation of a person who was projected as a drug dealer and a perpetrator of several illegalities. Rhea Chakraborty is a public personality and has an image and reputation to protect.

If a government agency causes her freedom to be taken away and her reputation to be tarnished without basis and evidence, wilfully as it has turned out, what is the protection for the ordinary citizens of the country? The NCB cannot even be given the benefit of doubt for acting in a bona fide manner in this case. It should be held responsible for this gross abuse of power and made to pay for it.