The Bombay High Court recently directed two petitioners to share their pleas regarding the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput with the Maharashtra government, and adjourned the matter till August 7.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice A.S. Gadkari was hearing two criminal public interest litigations. One filed by businessman Sameet Thakkar through advocate Raspal S. Renu and the other by Priyanka Tibrewal, an advocate practising at the Calcutta High Court. Both pleas seek for the probe into the actor’s death to be transferred either to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or to a special investigation team.
Ms. Tibrewal told the court that the nature of Rajput’s death was sensational and there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding it. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the State, responded by saying there was “nothing sensational” in the case. “It is just being made sensational,” he said, adding that said he had not received copies of either plea.
Mr. Thakkar’s PIL said, “As the people involved in the matter are powerful bigwigs of Bollywood having underworld and political nexus, the crucial and material evidences in the present matter are being compromised with each passing day.”
Ms. Tibrewal’s plea also alleged, “The sudden death of a very successful person has created ripples in the minds of the public at large about intricacies of nepotism prevalent in the film industry, Mumbai Police created a narrative of suicide in Rajput’s case without adequate probe and most evidence in the case had been destroyed.”
