Sushant Singh Rajput's sisters seek to quash FIR filed by Mumbai Police on Rhea Chakraborty complaint, Bombay HC adjourns hearing

Priyanka and Meetu Singh, sisters of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, have filed a plea in the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the FIR lodged against them by the Mumbai Police on a complaint filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty..The Bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik heard the plea today. Advocate Madhav Thorat appeared for the sisters, while Advocate Deepal Thakkar appeared for Rhea Chakraborty. Thakkar was holding for Advocate Satish Maneshinde, who was held up in another hearing. She sought for time to reply to the petition, which was served to them only yesterday. .The Court remarked,"There is no urgency in the matter. The FIR had been filed only a month ago." It then adjourned the matter for a week. Thorat was directed to serve the State and Chakraborty with copies of the petition, if need be..Priyanka and Meetu have moved to quash the FIR after Rhea filed a complaint with the Bandra Police. The FIR disclosed charges against the sisters and Dr. Tarun Kumar of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act..Rhea had alleged that the sisters conspired with Dr. Kumar to obtain a false prescription for administering banned medicines to the late Sushant Singh Rajput. .Apart from quashing of said FIR, the sisters have sought directions to the Bandra Police to not take any coercive action in lieu of the FIR. They have also sought investigation into the malicious and malafide activities of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government, for which they have sought damages under public law..Priyanka and Meetu have submitted that the FIR was lodged "to concoct a whole new story entirely different from the statements made" by Rhea before the Supreme Court and media platforms. ."Such contradictory stories does not deserve to be taken cognizance of and is thus fit to be quashed in its entirety as being contradictory and concocted."Petition filed by Priyanka and Meetu.The present FIR has been filed "to divert and derail the ongoing investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics Control Bureau", the sisters contend..The plea states that this FIR should be quashed because it is against the order of the Supreme Court in the matter. On August 19, the Apex Court held,"In the event a new case is registered at Mumbai on the same issue, in the fitness of things, it would be appropriate if the latter case too gets investigated by the same agency."Since the CBI has taken over the investigation, this present FIR is contrary to the Supreme Court decision, it is stated..It is also contended that the FIR against Dr Kumar is not maintainable, as only a medical opinion was sought from him and he had prescribed drugs which were not banned. .They have also pointed out that the FIR pertains to incidents which allegedly occurred in the earlier weeks of June. However, the FIR was filed in the month of August. Thus, they submit that there was an inordinate delay in the filing of the FIR..It is further claimed that the Inspector at the Bandra Police station registered the FIR out of malice and ulterior motive for seeking vengeance against the sisters as the investigation was transferred from them to the CBI..Claiming that it is an attempt at malicious prosecution, the petition states that such a complaint against the sisters would cause irreparable harm to their reputation..Priyanka and Meetu submit that the present FIR filed by the Mumbai Police is only to counter the proceedings of the ED and the NCB. It is an attempt to derail the ongoing CBI investigation, the plea states..The sisters have submitted that Rhea and the Bandra Police have not been able to show how the ingredients of the offences under IPC and NDPS Act are met.They submit that the evidence is on the basis of news channel and newspaper reports, which are "flimsy and illegal"..The matter will be listed for hearing on the October 13..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.