SC allows NCB to amend its plea challenging Bombay HC order on Rhea Chakraborty
Mar 18, 2021
New Delhi [India], March 18 : The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to amend its plea -- challenging the bail order of the Bombay High Court granting bail to actress Rhea Chakraborty -- and also the findings on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in connection with her involvement in the alleged drug case.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by the Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, allowed the prayer of Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for the NCB, to amend its plea.
The NCB had moved the top court recently challenging the order of the Bombay High Court granting bail to Rhea in the alleged drug case.
"I am not against the grant of bail," the Solicitor General said.
Pleading to the top court, Mehta said: "Please allow me to amend the plea. We will challenge the bail order and also the findings on the NDPS Act."
He requested the top court to adjourn the matter for next week.
"My worry is that the Bombay High Court had made certain wide-ranging observations, on the NDPS case (against her)," Mehta told the court during the hearing.
The Supreme Court asked Mehta: "You cannot file a petition against the Bombay High Court's observations while hearing from the NCB that the Bombay High Court had made certain findings and observations in the Rhea Chakraborty bail order case."
"Kindly have it on Monday," the SG requested the bench of the top court, to which, the CJI led bench adjourned the matter.
The Bombay High Court, had last year in October, granted bail to Rhea who was arrested by the NCB on September 8 in connection with an alleged drugs-related case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The Bombay High Court, while granting bail to the actress, had imposed several bail conditions on her, including that of depositing her passport with the NCB, and also had barred her from leaving the country without the prior permission of the special court trying the alleged drugs case.
