Why Sushant Rajput's family wants to contest CBI clean chit to Rhea Chakraborty
Sushant Singh Rajput's family have rejected the CBI's closure report as a superficial exercise and have decided to challenge it in court.
Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's family has decided to legally challenge the Central Bureau of Investigation's closure report on his sudden death in 2020, calling it "incomplete" and "flimsy."
The move comes after the closure report stated that there was no evidence to suggest that actor Sushant Singh Rajput was confined, threatened, or that any wrongdoing was committed by actor Rhea Chakraborty or others accused in the case.
According to the report, accessed by HT, it also stated that there was no evidence to suggest that Rhea had embezzled his funds or possessions.
Why did SSR's family reject the CBI closure report?
Sushant Singh Rajput's family and their lawyer, Advocate Varun Singh, have rejected the findings outright, describing the closure report as a superficial exercise and have decided to challenge it in court.
"This is nothing but an eyewash. If CBI really wanted to come out with the truth, it would have submitted all the supporting case documents, including chats, technical records, statements of witnesses, medical records, etc, in the court along with the final (closure) report, which they have not done. We will file a protest petition against this closure report, which is based on a shoddy investigation", Singh said.
Rajput's family also believes that the investigation has major gaps. Advocate Varun Singh criticised the CBI for failing to provide key evidence, such as bank statements or digital data, to substantiate its claims about no embezzlement.
"Simply saying Sushant Singh's account has not been used to take out funds is not enough. CBI should have provided the bank statement to back its claim. It's a flimsy report, which won't stand in the court of law," Singh said.
What does the CBI closure report say
The CBI had submitted two closure reports in March this year -- one about the case filed by Rajput's father, KK Singh, in Patna, alleging that Rhea and her family drove his son to suicide and misused his finances; the second involved a counter-case Rhea filed against Rajput's sisters in Mumbai.
“Investigation revealed that Sushant had committed suicide. None of the accused persons had lived/stayed with him between June 8, 2020 and June 14, 2020 (the day he was found hanging in his Bandra flat). Rhea and her brother Showik left the house on June 8, and thereafter didn’t visit the house. Sushant had spoken to Showik on June 10 through WhatsApp at 1441 hours, but had no conversations with Rhea between June 8 and June 14. Evidence had not come on record to show that Sushant had met with Rhea or any of her family members or had been in touch with them by any other means. Shruti Modi had stopped visiting Sushant’s house since she fractured her leg in February. Furthermore, Meetu Singh (sister of Sushant) had stayed with him in his flat from June 8 to June 12,” said an officer, quoting details of the closure report.
Regarding allegations of theft and embezzlement of funds by Rhea, the agency said that “when Rhea and her brother left Sushant’s house on June 8, she took away her Apple laptop and Apple wristwatch, which were gifted to her by Sushant. No evidence has emerged during the probe about any property dishonestly taken out of the possession of Sushant without his knowledge by Rhea or any other accused person”.
The CBI report also noted that Rajput's finances were managed by his chartered accountant and lawyer, and that his expenditures on Rhea, including a 2019 European trip, were made at his own instruction.
“He even told Sidharth Pithani (Sushant’s flatmate) that Rhea was part of the family. Therefore, expenses on Rhea cannot be brought under the ambit of Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Further, the evidence doesn’t suggest/indicate any movable property being delivered to Rhea by inducing or deceiving Sushant”, the closure report states, according to the second officer.
Meanwhile, a Patna court is scheduled to hear the matter concerning the closure report on December 20.
