Rhea Chakraborty has been granted bail on Wednesday in the drug probe that emerged on the sidelines of an investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The actress was under the judicial custody of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and there were chances that her custody would have been extended until October 20. However, her brother Showik Chakraborty remains jailed. Now, Sushant Singh Rajput's family's lawyer Vikas Singh has told the media that the drug case against the actress was weak. "The bail given to Rhea is on the premise of a narcotics case against her, which is very weak according to me," he told ANI. Rhea Chakraborty Granted Bail by Bombay High Court, Brother Showik Chakraborty to Remain in Custody.

He added, "The real question is whether or not she administered the drugs to Sushant without his knowledge. Did she tell doctors, to whom she took him for treatment, about his usage?"

A single bench of Justice Saran Kotwal sanctioned bail to Rhe at the Bombay High Court. Kotwal said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant is not guilty of any offence punishable under Sections 19, 24 or 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 or any other offence involving commercial quantity. Rhea Chakraborty Granted Bail: Farhan Akhtar, Ali Fazal and Other Bollywood Celebs Tweet in Support of the Actress.

At Rhea's bail hearing, the bench said, "There are no other criminal antecedents against her. She is not part of the chain of drug dealers. She has not forwarded the drugs allegedly procured by her to somebody else to earn monetary or other benefits. Since she has no criminal antecedents, there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail."

The bench also added that celebrities should not be treated in a harsher way to set an example for the younger generation, as argued by Additional Solicitor General. "Everybody is equal before the law," it said.

“No celebrity or role model enjoys any special privilege before the Court of law. Similarly, such a person also does not incur any special liability when he faces law in the Courts. Each case will have to be decided on its own merits irrespective of the status of the accused,” it added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 07, 2020 07:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).