NEW DELHI: Maharashtra government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that registration of the FIR lodged in Patna in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's case was politically motivated and due to extraneous reasons.
The state government told the top court that Bihar Police cannot register FIR in the case and carry out any investigation on the ground of alleged "inaction or illegal" action of the Mumbai Police.
"The newspaper reports produced on record state that the Bihar Police were hesitating for registration of the FIR but the Chief Minister of Bihar and another minister had persuaded them to register it.
Thus, it is submitted that the registration of the FIR at Rajeev Nagar Police Station, Patna, Bihar, was politically motivated and due to extraneous reasons," the state government told the top court.
The Maharashtra government filed its written submissions in the top court on actress Rhea Chakraborty's plea seeking transfer of the FIR to Mumbai.
Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14 and since then Mumbai Police has been probing the case.
The Maharashtra government said the territorial jurisdiction of a court with regard to the criminal offence would be decided principally on the basis of place of occurrence of the incident and not on the basis where the FIR is registered.
"The provisions in the CrPC governing the field emanate from the doctrine that all crimes are local. Investigation into a crime, the witnesses who are to be examined for the purposes of proving the commission thereof and other relevant factors, which are required to be taken for consideration thereof lead to the aforementioned inference," the state government said.
It said that all the alleged offences are committed within the local limits of Mumbai, and at the time of registration of the FIR it was apparent that the crimes were committed outside the jurisdiction of Bihar and therefore it was mandatory to register a Zero FIR and transfer it to Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra government told the apex court that police are investigating to ascertain the cause of death of the deceased and to ascertain whether he had died under circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence.
Earlier in the day, Bihar government told the Supreme Court that Maharashtra Police neither registered an FIR on actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide nor did it extend any support to Patna Police for investigating the case on "account of political pressure".
The FIR in Patna has been registered against Chakraborty and others for alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 306 (abetment of suicide), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).