36th accused gets bail in Sushant Singh Rajput death case
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Anuj Keshwani, who was arrested in a drugs case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020. He is the last of the 36 accused, including actor Rhea Chakraborty, to be released. Bail.
Keshwani, a resident of Khar, was arrested on drug smuggling charges in September 2020.
Incident of 14 June 2020
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has been investigating the case since 2020 after Rajput was found dead in his flat on June 14, 2020, during the nationwide lockdown. It was alleged that drugs were supplied to the actor by people close to him, leading to a sweeping action by the central agency.
After the petition was rejected by the special court, Keswani had approached the High Court for bail.
While granting bail, Justice MS Karnik said: “The prolonged confinement of the applicant as an undertrial, coupled with the fact that the trial will take a long time to conclude, is a sufficient factor for me to be satisfied that That this can happen due to the strictness of Section 37.” Be defeated.”
ndps act
According to Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, bail can be granted to an accused only if the court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of such offense and is capable of doing so. Not likely. Any offense committed while on bail.
A total of 36 accused including Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik were arrested. While Rhea, Showik and 33 other accused were earlier granted bail by various courts, Keshwani remains in custody due to the discovery of commercial quantities of drugs in his residence during the NCB raid.
Keshwani’s counsel argued that the prosecution proposed to examine 160 witnesses, and hence the trial would take a long time to conclude. The lawyer also pointed out procedural lapses during the raids and seizures conducted without search warrants, although the court did not pay much attention to this issue.
Justice Karnik said that another accused, Jitendra Jain, was granted bail by the Supreme Court in December 2022 on similar grounds. Based on Jain’s decision, another accused, Mohammad Azam Jumman Shaikh, was also granted bail.
