Rhea Chakraborty's frozen bank accounts released in Sushant Singh Rajput case

A Mumbai special court allowed the unfreezing of four bank accounts linked to actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and mother Sandhya. The court said that the NCB had not complied with Section 68F of the NDPS Act within the required period.

In Short

• A special court permitted the defreezing of bank accounts held by actor Rhea Chakraborty
• The court also allowed refreezing bank accounts of Rhea's brother Showik and their mother Sandhya
• The law requires freezing orders to be confirmed within 30 days

A special court in Mumbai on Saturday permitted the defreezing of bank accounts held by actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and their mother Sandhya. The accounts were frozen by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in 2020 following the FIR registered in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case that year.

While some of her accounts were defreezed in 2021, the family filed fresh applications through advocates Ayaz Khan and Zehra Charania to release funds in ICICI, Axis, and Kotak banks. These applications specifically sought the defreezing of accounts that were mostly held jointly by various members of the family.

According to the report by NCB, the applicants contend that the NCB had not followed provisions of Section 68F of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and thus the freezing of bank accounts was illegal. It further read:

• Section 68F of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, lays down the procedure while empowering authorised officers to seize or freeze properties that are believed to be illegally acquired through drug trafficking.
• Sub-section (2) of Section 68F is designed to prevent the indefinite freezing of assets without independent oversight. It mandates that any order of seizure or freezing issued by an investigating officer must be reviewed and confirmed by a Competent Authority.

Advocate Ayaz Khan, appearing for Rhea Chakraborty and Sandhya Chakraborty, mentioned that in the case of the four bank accounts of Chakraborty family, the same was not done.

Additional Public Prosecutor Geeta Nayyar representing the NCB, opposed the application on the grounds that from the statement of the accused, Rhea Chakraborty, it is seen that she is an active member of a drug syndicate contacted by drug peddlers and therefore, the officer was satisfied in freezing the bank accounts of the accused.

However, special judge UC Deshmukh observed that Sub-section (2) of Section 68F of the Act provides that an order of freezing or seizing the property shall have no effect unless such order is confirmed by an order of the competent authority within period of 30 days of its being made. There is no dispute that the subject matter of the bank account has been frozen by the Officer of the NCB.

The judge said, "The NCB does not deny that there is no compliance of Sub-section (2) of Section 68F of the Act. There is no order as contemplated to be passed under such provisions of Act. Therefore, in view of the observations of the Hon’ble High Court in Jatinder (supra) and provisions of Section 68F of the Act, the application is liable to be allowed."

The applicants have not made any official statements on the recent developments.

- Ends