The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), state of Maharashtra and the Bureau of Immigration challenging Bombay high court's quashing of Look-out-Circulars (LOCs) issued against Rhea Chakraborty in Sushant Singh Rajput death case. The LOCs were issued against Rhea's brother Showik and her father in the case.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan orally observed that the petition was filed because the accused were high profile and there was nothing substantial. The bench said that the petition was "frivolous" and was not needed. Justice Viswanathan expressed his disbelief by saying that he was surprised. "You issue LOC for all this!" Justice Vishwanathan said.
Justice Gavai said, "We are warning. You are filing such a frivolous petition only because one of the accused is a high-profile person...It will be with exemplary cost. Both persons have deep roots in society."
"If you want cost and some compliments to CBI, we will pass-over," Justice Gavai added.
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The LOCs were issued in August 2020 against Rhea, her brother Showik, her father, Lt. Colonel Indrajit Chakraborty (an army veteran), and her mother, Sandhya (who worked as a teacher in army schools). However, the Bombay High Court observed that the family was cooperating in the investigation, and LOCs were issued for no reason. “The LOC cannot be kept pending indefinitely, in this case for more than 3½ years, though the petitioners have cooperated with the investigation, which fact has not been disputed... The right to travel is a fundamental right and cannot be curtailed except according to due procedure established by law," the High Court had said.