The LOCs had been issued by immigration authorities at the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has been investigating Rajput’s death based on a complaint from his family. In February, the Bombay High Court quashed the LOCs, citing the CBI’s failure to provide sufficient justification. The Court stated that merely referencing an FIR or summarising it was not enough to warrant the issuance of an LOC.
The state subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court’s decision. Rhea Chakraborty had been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in September 2020 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act following Rajput’s death. She was granted bail by the Bombay High Court a month later, and the Centre chose not to pursue its challenge against the bail in the Supreme Court.
Chakraborty later approached the Bombay High Court, arguing that the existing LOCs were preventing her from fulfilling her professional commitments abroad. She contended that LOCs should only be issued when an accused is evading arrest, which was not applicable in her case. The High Court granted relief to her and her family members in February, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court.
