'Frivolous Petition' : Supreme Court Dismisses CBI's Plea To Restore LOC Against Actor Rhea Chakraborty & Family

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the State of Maharashtra and the Bureau of Immigration, challenging Bombay High Court's quashing of Look-out-Circulars (LOCs) issued against actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, her father (an army veteran) and her mother (an army school teacher) in the aftermath of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan orally observed that the petition was "frivolous" and was filed merely because one of the accused persons was "high-profile."

When the CBI counsel sought a pass-over in the matter, Justice Gavai said, "We are warning you...You are filing such a frivolous petition, only because one of the accused is a high-profile person...It will be dismissed with exemplary cost. Both persons have deep roots in society."   

"If you want cost and some compliments to CBI, we will pass-over," the judge added.

"You issue LOC for all this!" Justice Viswanathan expressed, surprised.

The matter was later dismissed, when the CBI counsel appeared and conveyed that he had instructions to concede to whatever was falling from the Court. "Don't come in tomorrow, otherwise costs and compliments to the CBI", Justice Gavai reiterated at this point.

To recap, the LOCs were issued in August 2020 against Rhea, her brother Showik, her father Lt. Colonel Indrajit Chakraborty (an army veteran) and her mother Sandhya (who worked as a teacher in army schools). This was after Rajput's family filed an FIR in Patna, seeking investigation into his death. The matter was subsequently transferred to the CBI.

While quashing the LOCs, the Bombay High Court observed that no 'reasons' for issuance of the same were stated. Further, the LOCs were not reviewed as mandated under the Consolidated Guidelines. The court underscored that the Chakrabortys had roots in society and cooperated with investigators. Moreover, merely giving a gist of the FIR wasn't enough and the CBI should have provided proper reasons for making the request of issuance of LOC.

“The LOC cannot be kept pending indefinitely, in this case for more than 3½ years, though the petitioners have cooperated with the investigation, which fact has not been disputed…the right to travel is a fundamental right and cannot be curtailed except according to due procedure established by law," the High Court said.

A request for stay of the decision was rejected. However, the High Court clarified it shall be open for agencies to issue fresh LOCs against the petitioners, if the occasion arises in future.

Case Title: THE ADDL. SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE AND ANR. Versus SHOWIK INDRAJIT CHAKRABORTY, Diary No. 43258-2024

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