22 February 2024 FIR >> Criminal Law  

Facts:

• The petitioners, Showik Chakraborty, Rhea Chakraborty, Indrajit Chakraborty, and Sandhya Chakraborty, filed a writ petition challenging the Look Out Circulars (LOCs) issued against them by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
• Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide on June 14, 2020 and the Mumbai Police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and commenced an inquiry. The CBI took over the investigation in August 2020.
• The petitioners were last called/summoned by the CBI in September 2021.
• Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in connection with an NDPS case. She was granted bail on condition that she not leave the country without permission from the trial court.
• The LOCs were issued against the petitioners in August 2020 and since then all the petitioners have cooperated with the investigation. The petitioners have not been summoned by the CBI since September 2021. The petitioners further argued that the LOCs violated their fundamental right to travel freely.

Conclusion:

• The Court found that the LOCs were issued without proper reason and had not been reviewed since their issuance in 2020 as required by the consolidated guidelines and that the LOCs cannot be kept pending indefinitely.
• The Court also found that there is no reasonable apprehension that the petitioners would flee the investigation/trial.
• Despite having registered an FIR in 2020, no charge sheet or closure report has been filed by the CBI.
• As a result, the Court quashed the LOCs.