Bihar Police chief Gupteshwar Pandey made a controversial statement on Rhea Chakraborty.
Criticised for his "aukat" comment targeting Rhea Chakraborty, the Bihar police chief said today that he meant that as an accused in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, she had no right to criticise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Gupteshwar Pandey, the Bihar Director General of Police, had been called out on social media for using words that were seen to be toxic and misogynistic. He ended up repeating the statement.
Yesterday, he had said Rhea Chakraborty "does not have the aukat (stature)" to comment on Nitish Kumar.
"The meaning of 'Aukat' in English is stature. Rhea Chakraborty does not have the stature to comment on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. She shouldn't forget that she is named an accused in the FIR in the Sushant Singh Rajput case which was under me and now with CBI," Mr Pandey told news agency ANI today.
"If a political leader comments on Bihar CM (Chief Minister), then I am nobody to comment over it. But if an accused makes some baseless comment on Bihar CM then it is objectionable. She should fight the battle legally," he said.
The Bihar government and police were jubilant after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the FIR registered in Patna by Sushant Singh Rajput's family was correct and that the CBI would take over the case.
The Bihar police chief was asked about Rhea Chakraborty referring to Nitish Kumar in her statement to the Supreme Court on politics playing a role in Bihar's investigations into the FIR registered by Sushant Singh Rajput's father and the state's move to hand over the case to the CBI.
"Rhea Chakraborty does not have the aukat to comment on the Bihar Chief Minister. What the police did was correct, and according to legal and constitutional provisions," Mr Pandey had responded. The comment stirred a raging debate on Twitter.
Sushant Singh Rajput, a 34-year-old Bollywood star, died on June 14. As the Mumbai police investigated the circumstances of his death, the actor's father filed a complaint in Bihar, his home state, accusing his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty of mentally harassing him and taking money from his accounts.
Rhea Chakraborty requested the Supreme Court to transfer all investigations to Mumbai, arguing that Bihar had no jurisdiction over the case as Sushant Singh Rajput had died in Mumbai.
(With inputs from ANI)