New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the legitimacy of the investigation into the unnatural death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput is under question as the governments of Maharashtra and Bihar are making sharp allegations of political interference against each other. The apex court said that allegations of political interference against the two states may dilute the credibility of the investigation. A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy said that in such a situation there are complete apprehensions of ‘hurting the truth and suffering of justice’.
The bench said in a 35-page judgment, “The legal process should be based on the disclosure of the correct facts through an authentic and legally acceptable investigation.” It should be ascertained whether the unnatural death was the result of any criminal act. ” The verdict came on the petition of actress Riya Chakraborty, who sought transfer of the FIR lodged against her and six others by Rajput’s father to Mumbai in Patna.
The apex court said that Rajput’s father and the Bihar government have alleged that the Mumbai police is trying to save the real culprits under political pressure, while the Maharashtra government has rejected it outright saying that the Patna police has been charged with the crime I do not have the authority to investigate as the incident took place in Mumbai.
Justice Roy said in the judgment that the authenticity of the investigation and its outcome would be required to clarify which authority should conduct an inquiry into the matter. The bench said, “As stated earlier, since the two states are making sharp allegations of political interference against each other, the validity of the investigation is under question.”
The Supreme Court while approving the ongoing CBI investigation in the FIR lodged against actress Riya Chakraborty in connection with Rajput’s death said that the same agency will investigate any other case registered in the case. The apex court termed the CBI’s investigation as legitimate and said that “the need of the hour” was a fair, competent and independent investigation. The court also said that the Bihar government was fully capable of giving consent to hand over the investigation to the CBI.
