Bombay High Court orders NCB to return Rhea Chakraborty’s passport, says no reason to doubt her

Bombay High Court orders NCB to return Rhea Chakraborty’s passport, says no reason to doubt her

The Bombay High Court has delivered relief to actor Rhea Chakraborty by directing the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to permanently return her passport. The court allowed Chakraborty’s plea seeking relaxation of a bail condition imposed in the 2020 drugs case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Chakraborty was arrested in September 2020 and released on bail a month later. One of her bail conditions required her to surrender her passport and seek court approval for every foreign trip. In her fresh application, filed through advocate Ayaz Khan, she argued that the condition disrupted her work commitments and caused her to lose professional opportunities abroad. Khan emphasized that she had consistently complied with all bail conditions and never breached any court orders.

The NCB, represented by advocate S K Halwasia, opposed the request. The agency maintained that Chakraborty should not be treated differently due to her celebrity status and warned that easing the restriction could create a risk of her absconding. (With India Today inputs)

Justice Neela Gokhale, however, noted that other accused in the same case had been granted similar relaxations. The court observed that Chakraborty had always returned from permitted trips, attended trial proceedings, and showed full cooperation with the investigation. “There is no reason to doubt her availability for the trial’s conclusion,” Justice Gokhale said, adding that the restriction had served its purpose.

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While granting relief, the bench made it clear that Chakraborty must continue to attend trial dates unless specifically exempted by the trial court. Before traveling abroad, she is required to share her full itinerary, hotel bookings, flight details, and contact information with the prosecuting agency at least four days in advance. She must also keep her phone switched on during travel and notify authorities upon her return.

The drugs case, which emerged during the probe into Rajput’s death, has 33 accused, and charges are yet to be framed. With this order, Chakraborty can now pursue work outside India without repeated court permissions, marking a significant step toward normalcy after years of legal hurdles.