Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence on June 14, 2020. In its probe into the drugs case linked to his death, the NCB has brought in a total of 38 charges against 35 accused in the case.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday submitted its proposed charges against 35 accused including actor Rhea Chakraborty in the drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

In the draft charges, the agency has proposed stringent sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act - including that of Sec 27A pertaining to illicit trafficking and harbouring offenders, which could attract a minimum of 10 years imprisonment up to 20 years in prison. The agency has retained the charges it had invoked against them in its voluminous 11,700-page charge sheet filed last March.

The draft charges have been submitted to the special NDPS court in Mumbai by the NCB.

Among those against whom charges are proposed along with Rhea are her brother Showik Chakraborty, the late actor’s house manager Samuel Miranda, cook Dipesh Sawant and brother of actor Arjun Rampal’s partner Agisilaos Demetriades. Among the 35 accused, several are alleged to be drug peddlers through whom drugs were procured. Most of the accused have secured bail.

After the draft charges are filed by the prosecution, some accused may choose to seek discharge from the case or from some of the charges proposed against them. The court will then frame charges against the accused if it finds sufficient evidence for them to stand trial under the charges. The framing of charges by the court paves the way for the trial to begin.

In its charge sheet filed last year, the NCB had alleged that Rhea and some of Rajput’s house staff had helped procure drugs and supplied them to him. It had annexed statements of around 160 witnesses as well as WhatsApp chats as part of the evidence against the accused. The charge sheet had been filed against 33 accused, after which two arrests had taken place, taking the number of accused to 35.

What are the charges?

Section 8c of the act deals with “produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or tranship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, except for medical or scientific purposes.”

Section 20[b][ii]A deals with accused who have dealt with a small quantity of drugs and describes that the sentence here is rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with a fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with both.

Sections 27A 28 talk about punishment for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders while section 29 prescribes punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy.— Section 30 talks about preparation -If any person makes preparation to do or omits to do anything which constitutes an offense.