While granting relief, the court directed her to share her travel itinerary with the prosecuting agency, remain available for trial, and inform authorities upon return.
The Bombay High Court has directed the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to return actor Rhea Chakraborty’s passport permanently, granting her plea to relax a bail condition imposed in the 2020 drugs case linked to actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.
Chakraborty, who was arrested in September 2020 and granted bail the following month, had been required to deposit her passport with the NCB and seek the trial court’s permission every time she needed to travel abroad.
In her fresh application, filed through advocate Ayaz Khan, she argued that the condition caused delays and forced her to miss work assignments. Khan said Chakraborty had complied with all bail conditions and never violated court orders, stressing that her profession required frequent travel abroad for shoots, auditions and meetings.
The NCB, through advocate S K Halwasia, opposed the plea, arguing she should not receive special treatment because of her celebrity status and warning she could be a flight risk.
Justice Neela Gokhale, however, noted that similar relaxations had been granted to other accused in the case and observed that Chakraborty had cooperated with the trial, returned after each permitted foreign trip and never breached bail conditions. The court said there was “no reason to doubt” her availability for the trial’s conclusion.
