Siddharth Pithani, who is currently in judicial custody, moved a bail plea before a special court here on Thursday. Pithani was arrested from Hyderabad on May 28 in a drug case linked to Rajput’s death last year. Among other grounds for seeking bail, the accused told the court that he is getting married on June 26. In his bail plea, filed through his advocate Taraq Sayyad, Pithani claimed that has been falsely framed in the matter.
It said that Pithani has not been found in possession of any contraband and no incriminating material was recovered from him to even remotely suggest he was involved in dealings of any narcotic drug and psychotropic substances. Pithani has been booked under section 27-A (financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, among other charges. In the entire charge-sheet (filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau), there is not a single witness, statement of any person or any admissible evidence to even remotely allege that he (Pithani) was involved in financing or illicit trafficking of drugs, his plea said. “In view of the same, it is most respectfully submitted that no charge under Section 27-A can be framed against the applicant, ” it added.
The court has posted the matter for hearing on June 16. Rajput was found dead in his home in Bandra on June 14 last year. Following the actor’s death, the NCB began a probe into alleged drug links in the film industry based on WhatsApp chats, and several people were arrested under the NDPS Act in this connection, most of whom are out on bail currently.
