COPS WILL DO A GOOD JOB: A REASON TO DENY CBI INVESTIGATION IN SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT’S CASE.

This article is written by Shubhangi of ILS Law College Pune and curated by Anjeeta Rani of Chanakya National Law University.

“What keeps me going are my learnings, which I would rather call my ‘experience,’ and my urge to explore.”

–Sushant Singh Rajput

Sushant Singh Rajput was born on 21^st January 1986, in village Maldiha of Purnia District, Bihar to Krishna Kumar Singh and Usha Singh. After his mother’s demise in 2002, he was devastated. In the same year, his family moved from Patna to Delhi. Sushant academically was a brilliant child and had scored rank 7 in the DCE entrance examination, and was also a National Olympiad winner in physics. He got admitted to Delhi Technological University and started pursuing engineering but he got attracted to dance. Then he enrolled himself in Shiamak dance classes and after that into Barry John’s drama classes and that’s when he realized his passion for acting and career in Bollywood. Sushant found out that he could connect with people and could do acting forever and after that, he dropped out of engineering.

He started his career in 2008 with the debut in serial ‘Kis Desh Mein Hai Mera Dil’ and later in 2009 he got the lead role in Zee Tv’s serial ‘Pavitra Rishta’ which was a popular serial back then. Then he made his debut in Bollywood in 2013 in ‘Kai Po Che’ for which he received the nomination of ‘Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut’. Then he bagged many other movies in Bollywood. His most appreciated movie was ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ in 2016 and later ‘Chichore’ in 2019 was also liked by the audience. Sushant was active in social causes through funding NGOs to provide education to the weaker section of society. But then one-day things turned upside down.

On 14 June 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide at his house in Bandra by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. At the time of his death, it was found that he was suffering from depression and was consulting a psychiatrist. It was reported by various newspapers that Sushant Singh Rajput showed traits of clinical depression and medical papers along with antidepressant pills were found at his residence. The investigation began to check for foul play as no suicide note was found. His autopsy was conducted by a team of 3 doctors whose reports indicated the cause of death as ‘Asphyxia due to hanging’. So, chances of foul play were cleared. Even his viscera reports were analyzed which also ruled out foul play.

Initially, there was no FIR filed but on July 25 Sushant’s father K.K. Singh filed a FIR. against actress Rhea Chakraborty for abetting the suicide of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput who was his current girlfriend. There were rumours of them getting married. Late actor’s father accused Rhea Chakraborty of draining Sushant financially and compelled him to keep a distance from his family. She was further charged with ‘Money Laundering’. The FIR was filed in Rajiv Nagar Police Station, Patna. To date police have enquired about 40 people regarding his sudden demise yet there is no success in finding what made him take this drastic step. The FIR further alleged that Rhea Chakraborty forced Sushant to end his life and also threatened him to not reveal details about his mental illness to the media.

Four teams of Bihar police have left for Mumbai for further investigation into the FIR. Though Mumbai police have mentioned that initially, they had zero contact with Bihar police regarding the investigation on the FIR. Further P.I.L has been filed by Rhea in the Supreme court stating that she has no role to play in the actor’s demise and also to transfer the probe to Mumbai for an impartial investigation.

There has been a demand for C.B.I investigation in this case by various people like Rhea Chakraborty had herself asked for C.B.I to look into this matter along with BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy after talking to Bihar Chief Minister Nitesh Kumar who has also demanded a C.B.I inquiry. And for the same, a P.I.L was filed in the Supreme Court seeking C.B.I to take control in this case. The P.I.L was filed by one Alka Priya. This P.I.L was looked upon by the three Judge-Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian. The bench said that Alka Priya has no locus standi in the case and Mumbai police are looking into the matter and they can always approach Bombay High Court for seeking relief. Even Maharashtra’s Home Minister has mentioned that ‘the Mumbai police is competent enough to handle such cases. Currently, the case is probed by both Mumbai as well as Bihar police.

Sushant Singh Rajput was a great actor as he hid all his pain behind his smile. His death left the whole nation in shock and dismay. After his death, various issues came into the light like nepotism and groupism that various self-made actors feel in the industry. As star kids get roles easily and an outsider has to struggle to even get a side role. Even after being talented, they have to suffer to a great extent to make themselves noticeable in Bollywood. Even Kangana Ranaut and her team in a video talked about how nepotism is deep-rooted in industry and how it affects the lives of struggling actors. She also blamed Dharma Productions and Yash Raj Films as a reason for the demise of the late actor. His death also raised questions about mental health problems. We can only survive if we as a nation take mental health seriously in these inhumane conditions. We need to keep ourselves mentally strong and composed if we want to achieve our goals happily in our life. Good mental health gives us hope to survive any condition gracefully.