The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday filed draft charges against Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and others before a special court in connection with a drugs case linked to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Special public prosecutor Atul Sarpande said the prosecution maintained charges against all the accused as mentioned in the chargesheet filed before the court. The prosecution has proposed the court to charge Rhea and Showik for consumption of narcotic substances and also for procuring and paying for such substances for Rajput.

Sarpande said the court was scheduled to frame charges against all the accused. However, it couldn’t be done as a few of the accused moved discharge applications. The court has said that the charges would be framed only after the discharge pleas are decided, he said. All the accused, including Rhea and Showik, were present before the court on Wednesday. Special judge V G Raghuwanshi, hearing cases pertaining to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, posted the matter for hearing on July 12.

Chakraborty was arrested in the case in September 2020 and granted bail almost a month later. The central agency has been probing the alleged drug use in Bollywood and TV industry following the death of Rajput, 34, on June 14, 2020. The CBI is probing the case pertaining to his death.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2020: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had filed a criminal case against Rhea Chakraborty and others in the alleged drug angle in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. The case was filed to probe their alleged dealings in banned drugs, officials said.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020: Rhea was arrested by NCB, as she was charged under several sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, which pertain to alleged use and possession of cannabis and psychotropic substances, financing illicit traffic, harbouring and abetment, and criminal conspiracy.

OCTOBER 7, 2020: After spending almost a month in jail, she was granted bail. At the bail hearing, senior lawyer Satish Maneshinde, while representing Rhea, had argued that had Sushant been alive, he would have been punished under Section 27 for consumption, which attracts punishment of six months to a year. “So, if the main beneficiary gets only that punishment, how can Rhea and her brother Showik be charged with Section 27A which attracts 10-20 years of punishment?” he said.