I miss Sushant, will be very difficult to live the rest of my life without him: Rhea Chakraborty
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty graced Day 2 of the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2023 as the keynote speaker for her session titled, 'Rising from the Ashes and Finding Herself.' Moderated by Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, she shed light on her life journey, her return to showbiz, and the challenges she faced post the tragic death of Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020.
Rhea, currently a gang leader on 'Roadies 19,' reflected on her experiences and mental health struggles, emphasizing the importance of understanding mental health issues.
During her session, Rhea looked back at the period when she faced severe trolling after the demise of Sushant Singh Rajput. She shared her thoughts, saying, "I always believe that there are two sides of the story, and not everyone believed in that that day. Today, life has come to a full circle, and I am speaking to the media after 2020 for the first time. Because I think I wanted to and thought I was ready. But now that life is moving on, I want to move on, and nothing could have been better than the India Today Conclave. The new me is very different. I’ve been through a lot. I feel like an 80-year-old woman inside a 31-year-old woman’s body mentally at least."
Addressing the challenges she faced, Rhea stated, “Honestly, when I enter a room, I can see it in people’s faces. I can see people looking at me with pitiful eyes, thinking, 'How is she still standing?' while some others are like 'we are rooting for her, and she should go on.' I can hear the thoughts in their minds. Sometimes they are looking at me and thinking she doesn’t seem like a criminal. I can feel that thought at the same time. Does it matter to me? Absolutely not. I actually did not have a choice in that matter. It mattered to me; I wouldn't have been able to sit here today, talk to a journalist, or walk through my house if it did."
She emphasized the prevalent misunderstanding of mental health in society, especially when it comes to celebrities. Rhea commented, "The truth is that mental health is not understood in this country at all. We are making progress, and I am happy that the youth is talking about it, and India is moving on and talking and understanding mental health. But if someone is famous and has a mental health condition, people don’t understand."
Addressing her relationship with Sushant Singh Rajput, Rhea stated, “See, I could never know the truth about why he did what he did because I don’t live his life. But I do know the truth about him being mentally ill, about what he was going through. I miss Sushant. It is going to be very difficult to live the rest of my life without that friend, that partner, that companion."
I miss Sushant. It is going to be very difficult to live the rest of my life without that friend, that partner, that companion: @Tweet2Rhea #ConclaveMumbai23 #SushantSinghRajput #SSR #RheaChakraborty | @PreetiChoudhry pic.twitter.com/limrcb4sHc
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) October 5, 2023
During the India Today Conclave, she expressed her aspirations, including her desire to continue in Bollywood despite the challenges faced. Rhea candidly discussed her experiences and the emotional journey she has undertaken, providing valuable insights into the complexities of mental health and societal expectations, especially in the public eye.
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Excise policy case: HC gives more time to Kejriwal, Sisodia to respond to ED plea to expunge remarks
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted time till April 2 to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others to respond to a plea by the Enforcement Directorate to expunge "unwarranted" remarks made against it by the trial court while discharging them in the liquor policy case.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma expressed displeasure over the request for more time by the lawyers appearing for Kejriwal and other accused, and said it would fix a date for final hearing in the matter during the next hearing on April 2.
"I don't know why you are not filing a reply. You should have filed a reply if you think you really needed to file a reply. They are only saying judge should not have written something that he has written."
"By second (of April), you file your reply. Then we will fix a date for final hearing," the judge said.
The Enforcement Directorate's counsel said there was no need to file replies to its petition and that this was an attempt to delay the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for ED, contended that the agency's petition has no impact on the accused, as the challenge was limited to the trial court judge's observations against the agency when it discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the CBI case.
The counsel for one of the accused said a brief reply was necessary and time was needed for it as the discharge order was 600 pages long.
Justice Sharma remarked that the ED's case has nothing to do with all 600 pages.
"Here is a prosecuting agency which has stated that the judge exceeded jurisdiction. I told them even I make such observations. I need to deicide it but you said I need to file a reply. Now you say 600 pages have to be read," the judge observed.
Raju also urged the court to direct that the observations of the trial court would not be relied upon by the accused in related proceedings. "It is a short date. Let them reply," the court responded.
On March 10, the court had asked Kejriwal and others to respond to the ED's plea.
In the petition, ED said the trial court's remarks were wholly extraneous to the CBI's case. It said the ED was neither a party in those proceedings nor afforded any opportunity to be heard.
"If such sweeping, unguided, bald observations are permitted to stand ... grave and irreparable prejudice would be caused to the public at large as well as the petitioner," the ED plea said.
"Therefore, the aforesaid paragraphs which concern the investigation independently conducted by the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) deserve to be expunged as it amounts to a clear case of judicial overreach...," it added.
On February 27, the trial court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and others in the Delhi liquor policy case, pulling up the CBI by saying that its case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny and stood discredited in its entirety.
The trial court ruled that the alleged conspiracy was nothing more than a speculative construct resting on conjecture and surmise, devoid of any admissible evidence.
To compel the accused to face the rigours of a full-fledged criminal trial in the stark absence of any legally admissible material did not serve the ends of justice, it said.
In its order, the trial court highlighted that a procedure permitting prolonged or indefinite incarceration based on a provisional and untested allegation risked "degenerating into a punitive process" and raised a "concern of considerable constitutional significance" where individual liberty was "imperilled" by invoking the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
It said the issue assumed heightened significance where an accused was arrested for the offence of money laundering and thereafter required to surmount the stringent twin conditions prescribed for the grant of bail, resulting in prolonged incarceration even at the pre-trial stage.
It further said that despite the settled legal position that the offence of money laundering cannot independently subsist and requires the foundational edifice of a legally sustainable predicate offence, the prevailing practice revealed a disturbing inversion.
Underlining that the objective of PMLA was undoubtedly legitimate and compelling, the trial judge mentioned that statutory power, however wide, could not eclipse constitutional safeguards.
