Actor Rhea Chakraborty has approached the Bombay High Court challenging the Lookout circular (LOC) issued against her by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August 2020.
The CBI is investigating a case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Rhea's plea
In her plea seeking the quashing of the LOC, Chakraborty has filed an application seeking the temporary suspension of the circular as she has to travel abroad for a professional event.
Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for Chakraborty, submitted that the CBI registered the case almost three years back, and the LOC was issued around that time. However, there has been no progress in the case to date.
The central agency has never issued any summons to Chakraborty, nor has it filed any chargesheet in the case. CBI counsel Shriram Shirsat said the agency has filed its reply to the plea.
A division bench headed by Justice Ajey Gadkari then inquired whether the actor had traveled abroad since the registration of the case, to which Chandrachud said she had traveled abroad before.
Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under the provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and is currently out on bail in the case. Chandrachud informed the court that after securing bail, she had got permission from the court to travel about twice but was unable to due to the LOC issued by the CBI.
Hearing on Dec 20
The HC has kept the matter for hearing on December 20.
Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. The Mumbai police initially registered an Accidental Death Report case. However, Rajput’s father filed a complaint with the Bihar police alleging that Chakraborty and her family abetted his suicide. The case was transferred to the CBI, which is still probing the case.
