New Delhi:
Rhea Chakraborty recently opened up about how Aryan Khan’s legal proceedings and public scrutiny during the 2021 drug arrest case reminded her a lot of what her brother Showik and she went through during the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. Both incidents were handled by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
What’s Happening
- In a recent conversation, Rhea Chakraborty was asked about forgiving the media for how the sensitive issue was treated until they were cleared of all charges. While Rhea Chakraborty was in jail for 27 days, Aryan Khan was in for 25 days.
- Rhea Chakraborty reacted to if Aryan Khan’s case felt like ‘reliving her own story’. She said, “I did. When I saw what Aryan was going through, it took me back because it was spectacularly similar. In fact, more than my story, it looked a lot like Showik’s story. They also have a resemblance. It was very, very hard to watch. I did not speak to the media many times, and I still do not.”
- The actress told Variety India, “The hardest part about being in jail is being in jail. Just knowing that you are no longer part of society. You are a number. You are not a person. You are deemed unfit to live in society. You are so bad or so pathetic that you are considered harmful to society.”
- “That is why you have been put away. It really crushes your ego completely. Your self-esteem, too. You question a lot of things. Being away from family and being so uncertain about your liberty and your freedom is really challenging,” added Rhea Chakraborty.
- The actress further detailed that she never went through “the whole victim-spiralling”.
- “I’ve obviously been through my share of pain, sadness, anger, tears and anxiety and PTSD… I still go through a lot of it. Now, I am on the other side, and I’ve actually sort of moved on quite a bit from it. But I believe that’s one thing that’s private to me because nothing else was private. And I would like to keep it like that. My tears are personal to me and my grief is personal to me. And that’s the one thing that I will not allow the media to have,” concluded Rhea Chakraborty.
About Rhea Chakraborty’s Case
Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on September 8, 2020. This was in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput’s death on June 14, 2020.
The actress was granted bail in October 2020, on the condition that her passport remain in the NCB’s custody. Additionally, she had to obtain the trial court’s permission every time she travelled abroad.
Rhea’s lawyer, Ayaz Khan, had filed a plea requesting the release of her passport. He argued that keeping her passport restricted her from travelling abroad for work commitments such as shoots, auditions and meetings. He stressed that the actress had never violated any court order since her bail.
The NCB opposed this, stating that Rhea Chakraborty’s celebrity status should not grant her any special concessions. They also claimed that the actress might not return to India if permitted to travel abroad.
Rhea Chakraborty has finally got back her passport on October 3, 2025, after five years. The relaxed rules still require her to inform authorities when she is travelling and to notify them about her trip abroad in advance. From flight and hotel details to trip itinerary, everything has to be shared.
The case is still pending and charges are yet to be framed. However, Rhea Chakraborty’s good conduct has led to her receiving her passport back after five years. She must continue to attend her trial dates and keep her phone switched on at all times.
About Aryan Khan’s Drug Case
Just over a year after Rhea Chakraborty’s case, Aryan Khan, Ayaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 and charged with possession, consumption and sale/purchase of banned drugs. Their arrest followed an NCB raid on a cruise ship, where the agency claimed to have seized banned drugs. Twenty people were arrested in the case.
Ex-NCB officer Sameer Wankhede led the investigation and came under the spotlight after arresting Aryan. Aryan Khan spent 25 days in jail before bail was granted. In May 2022, all charges against Khan were dropped, with Wankhede removed from the case after being accused of blackmail.
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