'This case is nothing but politics': Maha counsel Singhvi to SC in Rhea plea hearing

In the Supreme Court hearing on Rhea Chakraborty's plea seeking to transfer the probe in a case against her in connection with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput from Patna to Mumbai, the counsel for Maharashtra government, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Bihar government's interest in the case is derived from the impending state assembly elections due later this year.

"This case is nothing but politics. In light of the impending elections in Bihar. Once elections are over, nobody would hear the case," said Singhvi in his submission to a single-judge bench of the apex court. He wondered whether the court has seen a State so desperately pursuing a case for prosecution? "I think not," he said.

The senior advocate argued that the very basis of claiming jurisdiction by the Bihar government is not satisfied in this case. "This is a much larger issue about how federalism is sought to be subverted. The amount of sensationalism attached to a transfer petition, I have never seen. Everybody has become judge, juror, prosecution. A murder of the CrPC is being attempted here," said Singhvi.

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The Maharashtra counsel asked: "Can a person transfer something that they don’t own?" on Bihar police transferring the probe to CBI. "This will set a dangerous precedent for the federalism in this country," he said.

The lawyer asserted that the consent of the state government (in this case, Maharashtra) is required to be taken for a CBI probe. "The exception is that the High Court or the Supreme Court can also order a CBI inquiry on its own behalf, but this should be done in a very rare case," he said. He pointed out that except for an aggrieved father in Bihar and an aggrieved sister in Chandigarh, everything else related to the case is in Mumbai. 

"Whether there are any unnatural circumstances surrounding Sushant's death is a matter of investigation," says Singhvi.

The Maharashtra counsel also took shots at the media stating that the press is "making a normal case into an abnormal case". "I was amused to see that people have been speaking of our Affidavit and how it will not be accepted even by a kindergarten - on channels. Everyone becomes an expert," Singhvi said.

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Rhea Chakraborty, on Monday, submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court hearing that Bihar Police has no jurisdiction in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, and had usurped it “under political pressure”. She also called Bihar Police’s move to seek a CBI probe in the matter “illegal and bad in law”. Furthermore, as the hearing proceeded Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer defended the Mumbai Police probe and said that the Bihar cops are wrongly blaming Mumbai cops, adding that Mumbai cops have recorded statements of more than 56 people.

Rhea Chakraborty in an additional affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday appealed to protect her from being made a “scapegoat of political agendas.'  According to sources, the actress said that the investigation into financial scams of thousands of crores by ED and CBI never see the light of the day, and at the drop of a hat cases get registered even without jurisdiction in the foundational case. Rhea also accused media channels of “convicting” her before it was even established that there was foul play in his death.

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