Mumbai: An Australian national who had been arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in November 2020 following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput has been discharged by a special court.
Paul Gerard Bartels, 59, had been taken into custody for allegedly procuring and consuming contraband as part of a drug syndicate in Bollywood.
Mahesh K Jadhav, the special judge for cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, allowed Bartels’ discharge plea, saying that there was no sufficient ground to prove the Aussie man’s involvement in the case.
Special public prosecutor Geeta Nayyar had argued that Bartels and co-accused Agisilaos Demetriades – brother of actor Arjun Rampal’s partner Gabriella Demetriades — purchased the contraband from another accused who was connected to Sushant and Rhea Chakraborty.
Actress Rhea, who was in a relationship with Sushant at the time of the latter’s death in June 2020, was booked along with his brother Showik by the NCB in the drugs case.
The prosecution claimed that Bartels’ alleged WhatsApp chats proved his nexus with other drug peddlers.
Nayyar also submitted that there was strong evidence to prove Bartels consumed a small quantity of contraband.
Bartels’ advocate Zehra Charnia argued that no incriminating material was recovered from his house and that there was no evidence connecting him with the co-accused.
“The statement of present applicant/accused recorded by NCB officer did not reflect that he has admitted that he has consumed contraband substance or possessed contraband substance,” the special court said.
No charges could be framed against Bartels since “there is no material to prove the factum of actual involvement of the applicant/accused in the commission of the alleged offence,” the court concluded.
NCB had launched a probe into drugs use in Hindi film industry to reveal the circumstances around Sushant’s suicide.
