Headlines October 31, 2020
Rhea’s lawyer says case against her is now weak

Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer, Satish Maneshinde has said that the case against the actor has become weak after the Supreme Court ruled that the confessional statements made before investigating officers by people accused in drug abuse and trafficking cases amount to a violation of fundamental rights.
This means that the statements cannot be used to convict them. This would amount to “infringement” of fundamental rights to life, equality and protection against self-incriminat
Maneshinde has welcomed the judgement, and said that now, ‘a large number of accused will be released. Speaking to the media, he said, “A large number of people have been incarcerated and punished on the basis of statements forcibly extracted by using third degree, coercion and threats to innocent individuals violating their Fundamental Rights in the last 35 years.”
Speaking about the drugs angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, he said, “Even in the case of all accused in the SSR Drugs Angle case, there’s hardly any recovery and independent evidence to charge them of serious offences. They are languishing in custody on the basis of inadmissible statements. In view of this Judgement rendered by Justice Rohington Nariman and Navin Sinha a large number of accused will see the light of the day.”
Section 25 of the Evidence Act says “no confession made to a police officer, shall be proved as against a person accused of any offence. That a statement recorded under section 67 of the NDPS Act cannot be used as a confessional statement in the trial of an offence under the NDPS Act,” the apex court ruled.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested over 20 people in connection to the alleged drugs nexus in the film industry. In October, Rhea was released on bail after nearly a month in jail. Actors such as Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh were called in for questioning.
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