Sushant’s spending on Rhea ‘not embezzlement’, says CBI
CBI's report clears Rhea Chakraborty of embezzlement claims by Sushant Singh Rajput's family, citing expenses during their relationship as not criminal.
Sushant Singh Rajput incurred expenses worth ₹16.80 lakh on Rhea Chakraborty during the 14 months they were in a live-in relationship, money which cannot be described as having been embezzled, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concluded in its closure report into the actor’s death.
The federal agency, citing the opinion of a medical board of AIIMS Delhi, has also claimed that the medicines Sushant Singh was taking were for “depression and a range of anxiety disorders” and that he did “not overdose”.
Varun Singh, the lawyer representing the family of the late actor, who was found dead in his Bandra flat on June 14, 2020, termed CBI’s interpretation on finances as “narrow”. He also said that the family will seek the formation of an independent medical review of the actor’s treatment.
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Rajput’s father KK Singh alleged soon after the actor’s death that ₹15 crore was embezzled from his son’s accounts, seeking a probe against Chakraborty.
To be sure, CBI’s investigations do not appear to bear this out.
Elaborating on Chakraborty’s finances, the CBI closure report, according to an officer familiar with its contents, states that from January 2019 to March 2020, she had total income and expenditure of ₹41.99 lakh and ₹31.35 lakh, respectively. “She had booked a flat in Bandra East, costing ₹80 lakh approximately and was also sanctioned a housing loan of ₹50 lakh from HDFC Ltd out of which ₹12.6 lakh was disbursed on January 22, 2020. She also paid ₹30.49 lakh from her own funds between February 25, 2018 to December 17, 2019 towards the cost of this flat. Sushant’s funds have not been found to be utilised for making any payment towards this property”.
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“Rhea was in a live-in relationship with Sushant and was being treated as part of the family. In such a scenario, expenses amounting to ₹16.80 lacs incurred by Sushant on Rhea that too during a period of 14 months cannot be termed as siphoning of funds or criminal breach of trust,” says the CBI closure report, the officer added.
Contesting this, lawyer Varun Singh said : “This conclusion misses the potential relevance of these transactions to the charge of abetment. The financial dependency and the control exerted through it were part of a pattern of conduct that created immense mental pressure and distress, directly contributing to Sushant’s state of mind and constituting abetment. The investigation’s focus on siphoning off is a misdirection from the core issue of abetment”.
The agency has further said that it had collected and analysed the financial details of Chakraborty’s parents Indrajeet and Sandhya Chakraborty, brother Showik Chakraborty, Rajput’s manager Shruti Modi and Rajput’s house keeper Samuel Miranda, and that and the “same doesn’t reveal anything significant’.
On the family’s allegations that Chakraborty gave an overdose of medicines to Rajput, CBI took the opinion of the AIIMS medical board .
In its response, which is part of the CBI closure report, the board opined that the medicines were used for “treatment of depression and a range of anxiety disorders like generalised anxiety disorder or panic disorder”.
The closure report, citing the medical board, adds that the doses (prescribed by psychiatrists) “are proper and not overdose”.
Varun Singh said the family believes Rajput was given the “wrong medicines” : “ A challenge could probe whether the diagnosis itself was correct and whether the administration of these drugs without proper supervision or in conjunction with other substances (even if not detected in the final toxicology) could have exacerbated the deceased’s condition. The family could seek an independent medical review of the entire treatment history.”
CBI’s closure report, according to a second officer,also revealed that Sushant Singh Rajput had “no threat of injury, reputation or property by any person”. The report looked at his WhatsApp messages and said they “do not suggest any threat perception,” this person added, asking not to be named.
As reported by HT on Thursday, CBI has claimed the allegations pertaining to criminal intimidation or threat to Rajput are “hearsay”.
