Rhea's case has lost steam: Lawyer after Supreme Court order
What's the story
Actor Rhea Chakraborty's lawyer Satish Maneshinde has said that the drugs case against her has weakened after the Supreme Court's order on Thursday. The judgment in question rules that any statement recorded under Section 67 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act cannot be used as confessional statement and will no longer be admissible before the court. Here are more details.
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Maneshinde called the order a 'landmark pronouncement'
Maneshinde said that a large number of people have been incarcerated and punished "on the basis of statements forcibly extracted by using third-degree, coercion and threats to innocent individuals violating their Fundamental Rights in the last 35 years." Speaking about the drugs angle in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, he remarked, "There's hardly any recovery and independent evidence to charge them of serious offenses."
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'Now, many accused will see the light of the day'
Maneshinde further said that many accused "are languishing in custody on the basis of inadmissible statements." "In view of this judgment rendered by Justice Rohington Nariman and Navin Sinha, a large number of accused will see the light of the day...Rhea Chakraborty's case has lost total steam in the merits of the allegations by virtue of this judgment," the lawyer added.
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'The order will help those languishing in ill-maintained jails'
"He (Justice Nariman) will go down in history as one of our greatest judges and be remembered for all times to come by those fighting for Human Rights and downtrodden people languishing in our overcrowded ill-maintained jails (sic)," Maneshinde added.
Case
Rhea was arrested in September, released this month
The said drugs probe began in the wake of Sushant's death earlier in June. Sushant's then girlfriend, Rhea was arrested after being accused of organizing banned substances like marijuana for the late actor. She was released on bail earlier this month. Other film stars, including Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor were also questioned by the NCB.