Rebecca Samervel (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 3, 2020)

Mumbai: Nearly three months after his arrest, Showik Chakraborty, the brother of actor Rhea Chakraborty, walked out of Taloja jail as he was granted bail by the special NDPS court on Wednesday. Juhu resident Showik (24) was arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs case relating to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. This was Showik’s second plea for bail before the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court.

The NCB had accused Showik of procuring drugs for Rajput, who was in a relationship with Rhea before his death in June. Rhea too was arrested in the drugs case, but was granted bail by the Bombay high court on October 7, almost a month after she was arrested. The HC had rejected Showik’s plea.

Before the special NDPS court’s order on Wednesday afternoon, Showik’s lawyers Ayaz Khan and Abad Ponda apprised the court that he had not moved the Supreme Court seeking bail. The NCB opposed his bail plea, but special judge G B Gurao granted Showik bail on a personal bond of Rs 50,000. Imposing conditions, the court said that he was to deposit his passport with the NCB. “The applicant shall not leave the country without prior permission from court. If the applicant has to go out of Mumbai, he shall inform investigating officer and give his itinerary in advance,” the court said. Additionally, for the next six months Showik will have to attend the NCB’s office on the first Monday of every month for an hour.

In his second bail plea, Showik denied NCB allegations that he was “an active member of a drug syndicate”. The plea said Rajput had been consuming drugs before his relationship with Rhea and this was corroborated by others. “It is apparent that the late actor utilised the applicant (Showik), his sister and members of his household staff to facilitate his drug habit while ensuring that he did not leave a paper trail of his own in the form of any electronic evidence whatsoever. Apart from allegedly procuring the drugs for the late actor, there are no allegations against the applicant,” the plea claimed.

Showik claimed that based on information available in the public domain, Neeraj, who worked as a cook with Rajput, had told CBI and city police that three days prior to his death, the actor had directed him to make ganja joints and place them in his bedroom. “Neeraj had further disclosed that...when the actor was found dead, he verified from the box that all the said joints had been consumed as it was empty,” the plea said.

It also cited the SC’s recent ruling that statements made to NCB officers cannot be used as a confessional statement in the trial of an offence or to convict an accused under the NDPS Act. The reasoned bail order copy is yet to be made available.
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Rhea’s brother released on a bond of Rs 50,000; his bail was rejected twice before
MUMBAI MIRROR (December 3, 2020)

Showik Chakraborty, brother of actor Rhea Chakraborty, was granted bail three months after his arrest in connection with the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) investigation into an alleged drug nexus in the film industry. He was granted bail by a special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on Wednesday. His bail had been rejected twice before.

Special NDPS judge GB Gurao released Showik on a bond of Rs 50,000. He was also directed to deposit his passport with the bureau and inform the investigating officer if he leaves the city. The court also released another accused, Abdel Parihar, on bail.

Showik was arrested on September 5. His earlier application for bail before the special court was rejected on September 11. He then moved the Bombay High Court, which also rejected his plea. The court had noted that though it looked like Showik couldn’t have financed a drug trade, neither he nor Parihar had sufficient material to defend themselves on this allegation.

Showik moved the special court again on November 3, in light of a recent Supreme Court judgment that had held that statements made before NCB officers could not be considered as confessions. It was also claimed that remand applications have made it evident that there is nothing on record to suggest that he is in any way involved with financing, illicit trafficking and/or harbouring of offenders in relation to any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

The NCB has maintained that there is enough digital evidence to show the involvement of the accused in the case. The agency’s case against Showik is that he had allegedly been in touch with Parihar’s alleged contact Zaid Vilatra through multiple digital transactions, which were used to deliver drugs to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Vilatra was also recently granted bail.

The agency has so far arrested over 26 people in connection with its investigation into the alleged drug syndicate in the film industry. They have all been booked under several sections of the NDPS Act in the case emerging out of the investigation into Rajput’s death.