Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has opposed the bail pleas filed by actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty in the Bombay High Court following their arrest in a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput''s death.
The siblings were "active members of a drug syndicate that was connected with high society personalities and drug suppliers", the NCB said in an affidavit filed before the HC on Monday.
The NCB further said both Rhea Chakraborty and her brother had "abetted and financed" drug transactions.
Therefore, the agency had booked them under the stringent section 27A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, it said in the affidavit.
Section 27A provides punishment for up to 10 years for financing drug trafficking and harbouring offenders, and also carries a bar on a grant of bail.
On previous hearings, the actress and her brother opposed the application of the above section in their case.
Their counsel Satish Maneshinde last week argued that the section did not apply in the present case as Rhea Chakraborty occasionally paid for drugs that were consumed only by her boyfriend, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
He had further argued that the drugs seized by the NCB so far in the case amounted to just 59 grams, which wasn't a commercial quantity, therefore, section 27A should not be applied in their case.
On September 24, a bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal suggested that the NCB file its reply to the bail pleas of Rhea Chakraborty and her brother, who were arrested earlier this month and are currently in judicial custody.
The court had also said that the NCB must elaborate on the provisions of section 27A and its applicability in the present case.