A week after the CBI filed closure reports in the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case in the courts of Mumbai and Patna, Zee Media Corporation Ltd Chairman — Emeritus Subhash Chandra on Saturday set a precedent of sorts, as he apologised to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty for subjecting her to fierce media trial in the aftermath of her boyfriend and actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
After the CBI’s closure report which categorically stated that Sushant’s death was a clear-cut case of suicide thus absolving Rhea of the charge of abetting the actor’s suicide, there was a clamour in certain circles that the television channels which subjected to media-trial in the much — discussed suicide case, vilifying her and destroying her career.
Taking to micro-blogging site “X”, Subhash Chandra wrote: “In Sushant Rajput murder case, CBI has filed a closure report. I believe it is due to lack of credible evidence. No scope for ambiguity, hence it means no case is made out”
Admitting that Rhea was made out an accused by the media, “led by its Zee News”, Subhash Chandra said: “Rhea Chakarborty was made out an accused by the media, led by Zee News through its editor and reporters (at that time). Others followed Zee News. As a mentor of Zee News, I advise them to be brave and apologise. I do apologise to Rhea, even with no involvement of mine”.
“I am like ‘One faced Rudraksha’ same as outside and inside, Call spade a spade. Subhash,” the media baron added.
It remains to be seen if other television channels which went out of the way to tarnish the image of Rhea through a trial conducted immediately after Sushant’s death. Earlier, television journalist — turned — TMC MP and deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Sagarika Ghose had demanded a public apology from the television channels concerned for the vilification carried out against the actress, while hiv Sena (UBT) MP and spokesperson UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the TV anchors should feel remorse for their wrong — doings.
It may be recalled that Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging to a ceiling fan in his closed room of his duplex flat at Mont Blanc building at Bandra’s Carter Road in north-west Mumbai on June 14, 2020.
Having registered a case of Accidental Death Report (ADR) in connection with Sushant’s death, the Bandra police had collected all documents and pieces of evidence, including autopsy and forensic reports and recorded 56 statements as part of the investigations carried out by it under section 174 of Cr PC.
After substantial investigations, the Mumbai police had inferred Sushant’s death was a case of “suicide”.
In the third week of August 2020, the Supreme Court transferred the investigations in the case from the Mumbai police to the CBI. In crucial forensic report submitted to the CBI last week, the AIIMS -- which studied Sushant’s autopsy report, the injury pattern on Sushant’s body and correlated it with circumstantial evidence and also examined the preserved viscera — ruled out the possibility of a “murder” and said that it was a clear case of “suicide”.
The transfer of the Sushant Singh Rajput case from the Mumbai police to the CBI came in the midst of the media-trial brazenly conducted by the television channels which targeted the Mumbai police and the then Shiv Sena-led MVA government for the conclusion drawn by the Mumbai police was a clear-cut case
of “suicide”. While granting a conditional bail to Rhea — who was accused of abetting Sushant’s suicide — in the drug-related case, the Bombay High Court on October 20, 2020, Justice S V Kotwal noted: I am satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the Applicant is not guilty of any offence punishable under Sections 19, 24 or 27A or any other offence involving commercial quantity”. “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,” Justice Kotwal had observed, while granting bail to Rhea.
Later in its ruling on a bunch of PILs filed in the Sushant Singh Rajput death-related cases, the Bombay High Court had on January 17, 2021 HC indirectly pulled up the media houses from holding “trials” and trying to influence the ongoing investigations.
Prefacing its directive to the media houses “not to step out of their boundaries too and thereby enter the grey area beyond the proverbial Lakshman Rekha”, a HC division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni had observed: “The measures we would thus propose to remedy the ills that have so long remained unchecked for the lack of strict enforcement of the regulatory control mechanism, in whatever manner it is available on paper, as well as lack of proper understanding of the law of contempt of court and the procedures governing the criminal justice system, are intended to safeguard the dignity of an individual and his liberty — the basic philosophy of our Constitution”.
“We would do so, conscious of our own limitations of not crossing the boundaries, while urging the media houses. not to step out of their boundaries too and thereby enter the grey area beyond the proverbial ‘Lakshman Rekha’,” the HC bench had noted.
