Sushant Singh Rajput death case: Probe overshadowed by gossip, media trial and politicians settling scores

Sushant Singh Rajput shot into limelight after his biopic on cricket legend MS Dhoni hit the screens. He became an instant hit with film buffs and cricket fans alike. Death by suicide of this handsome hero, without leaving a suicide note, has become the subject of animated public debate, generating a groundswell of sympathy as well as the whiff of politicisation.

Unnatural deaths

Unnatural deaths can be accidental, suicidal or homicidal. While homicides are investigated under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a case under Unnatural Death Report (UDR) is registered under Section 174 Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) whenever accidental or suicidal deaths are reported in a police station. This is with a view to ascertaining the exact cause of death and to detect or rule out foul play.

Mumbai Police probe

Mumbai police registered a UDR case on Rajput’s death and investigated it after subjecting his body to a post-mortem. Forty witnesses, including the psychiatrists who were treating Rajput, were examined. Reports suggest that he might have been bipolar and that the biggest financial transaction in his bank account was a GST payment for Rs 2.8 crore. Rajput’s father, his uncle and two sisters, who were examined during the investigation, did not suspect foul play or abetment in his death. None of them seem to have expressed doubts about the line of investigation by Mumbai police or lack of confidence in them.

FIR in Patna

After a lapse of 40 days, Rajput’s father filed a complaint with Rajivnagar police station in Patna, Bihar, against Rhea Chakraborty, five others and some unknown persons, accusing them of offences under the IPC, viz criminal conspiracy (120B), abetment to suicide (306), wrongful restraint (341), wrongful confinement (342), theft (380), criminal breach of trust (406), cheating (420) and criminal intimidation (506). Under the circumstances, this complaint looks like an afterthought.

The Patna police, which ought to have transferred the case to Mumbai police, turned criminal jurisprudence on its head by commencing investigation without jurisdiction. At this point, there were two parallel investigations, one each in Mumbai and Patna, on the same subject matter. The courts have been silent about this so far. The delay in filing the FIR is not explained by the complainant. Rajput’s family is being represented by a high-profile advocate who practices in the Supreme Court. The Director General of Police, Bihar, queered the pitch further by advising the Mumbai police on what they should do in the case, amidst the bizarre and unsavoury spectacle of a superintendent of police of Bihar being quarantined in Mumbai, raising the hackles of Bihar police and of the Supreme Court.

The series of sordid events have now culminated in the Government of India handing over the case to CBI, which has taken up the investigation with alacrity, even as Rhea Chakraborty’s case in the Supreme Court over the question of jurisdiction is pending. The Enforcement Directorate has also been unleashed.

Inter-state ramifications

Crimes often have inter-state ramifications. Rajput’s case does not exactly fall under this category, except that he hailed from Bihar while his death occurred in Mumbai. Police forces across the country are expected to cooperate with each other. It was heartening to read the statement of the Bihar police team leader that he received adequate cooperation from Mumbai police, though the news of the quarantining of an SP of Bihar police by the Brihan Mumbai Corporation struck a jarring note.

Media trial

Not to be outdone, the all-knowing TV media has jumped into the fray and kept the news channels busy with their own speculative ‘investigations’ -- with little knowledge of the rules of investigation and no access to authentic records. The channels grappled with numerous conspiracy theories while many Bollywood personalities were dragged and names bandied about, apparently with a view to settling personal scores, even as the infamous nepotism in Hindi film industry was endlessly debated, muddying the waters further.

Politicisation of probe

But, is it not in the nature of sensitive and sensational cases to attract politics like a magnet? Here is a case of the death of a celebrity hailing from Bihar, and Assembly elections in the state are not far away! While Aditya Thackeray had to fend off allegations of a possible link to the incident, the Bihar government cynically threw its weight behind the case, with the willing connivance of the politicos in New Delhi. Thus, Rajput’s case has become a heady cocktail of Bollywood gossip, conspiracy theories, crime, politics and what have you, with the media adding spice to the entire affair.

Suicide – a psychological phenomenon

The core issues are, however, simple and straightforward. The investigating agency should conduct an honest investigation to establish the motive for the suicide and the circumstances leading to it, without victimising or harassing any innocent person. The second, and an equally serious, issue is the pervasive phenomenon of suicide cases across rural and urban India. Apart from poverty, debt, backwardness and superstitions which drive people to suicide, there are newer causes impacting mental health. A quantum increase in our psychiatric and counselling services in order to create a safe space for victims of mental health issues is the need of the hour.

(The writer is a former Director-General and Inspector General of Police, Karnataka)