Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to quash the FIR lodged against late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s sister Priyanka Singh for allegedly forging and fabricating a medical prescription for her brother, but set aside the police document against a second sister. A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik, however, quashed the FIR against Meetu Singh, another sister of Rajput.
The court said while there was prima facie evidence against Priyanka Singh, the case against Meetu Singh does not stand. The judges said the CBI, which is already probing Rajput’s death, said the central agency will also look into the FIR against Priyanka Singh.
“We are of the considered opinion that the FIR against petitioner Meetu Singh does not survive,” the bench said. “However, the FIR against petitioner Priyanka Singh is not quashed as we prima facie find that a case is made out,” the court observed.
The bench said its judgment shall not cause an impediment for the investigating agency to probe the FIR (against Priyanka Singh) and submit whatever report it deems fit. “The allegations made in the complaint, do clearly constitute a cognizable offence as against only petitioner Priyanka Singh justifying the registration of a case and an investigation thereon,” the court noted.
It said the FIR against Meetu Singh was registered on the basis of suspicion and vague allegations. The sisters had approached the HC seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) lodged for alleged forgery and fabrication of a medical prescription for their brother for anxiety issues.
The FIR, naming Priyanka Singh, Meetu Singh and Tarun Kumar, a doctor from Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, was filed by the suburban Bandra police on September 7 based on a complaint by Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty. The complaint alleged the sisters and the doctor prepared a forged and fabricated prescription for anti- depressants for the Bollywood actor.
Rajput, 34, was found dead in his suburban apartment on June 14, 2020. His father K K Singh later lodged a case of abetment of suicide and cheating against Chakraborty and her family members. The CBI is conducting a probe into the case.
After registration of the FIR against Rajput’s sisters, the Bandra police forwarded the case papers to the Central Bureau of Investigation, as per directions of the Supreme Court which had said all cases pertaining to the death of Rajput shall be probed by the CBI. The court, in its order on Monday, noted that the FIR lodged by Chakraborty is in respect of the same incident (Rajput’s death) having a different version of events, which according to the court is permissible.
The bench said the CBI, already probing the FIR lodged by Rajput’s father K K Singh, shall also meticulously and carefully look into the FIR lodged by Chakraborty. During earlier hearings, senior counsel Vikas Singh, appearing for Rajput’s sisters, had argued that telemedicine practice guidelines permitted a doctor to prescribe medicines after online consultation.
He had claimed that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rajput could not go for physical consultation. Senior counsel Devdutt Kamat, appearing for the Mumbai police, had opposed the plea to quash the FIR and said no online consultation was done.
Chakraborty’s advocate Satish Maneshinde had also opposed the plea of Rajput’s sisters, and said one of the circumstances that may have led to the actor’s death was the “dangerous cocktail of drugs, narcotic substances and medicines”.
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