All remand proceedings in SSR death case to be conducted through video conference: Mumbai court

A Mumbai court on Monday directed that all the remand proceedings in the case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput will be conducted through video conferencing from now onwards.

The order was issued by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplande court in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across the country.

"In the present days situation of pandemic and past experience and to maintain Law and Order and Administration of Justice, with immediate effect, any accused related to the 'Sushant Singh Rajput' remand will be carried through video conferencing only," the order said.

The court, while laying down modalities for the conduct of these remands proceedings, said that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) or any investigating agency will ensure that all the norms and standard operating procedure (SOP) pertaining to the safe custody of the accused as per the Code of Criminal Procedure are strictly followed.

"The NCB or any investigating agency will ensure that they carry out the necessary Rapid Antigen test of the accused in the office of investigating agency. This needs to be done to curtail the time taken for transporting the accused to the hospital and back and also to maintain the law and order situation," the order said.

"The NCB or any investigating agency will make necessary hardware arrangements like PC, Camera, Speaker, Mic and good internet connection at their end for smooth conduct of the video conferencing," it added.

The court said that the remand papers can be submitted before the court either physically or can be submitted through online mode before remand court.

The case, which pertains to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, is currently being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the NCB. While the CBI is probing the death, ED and NCB are probing money laundering and drug case in the matter.

( With inputs from ANI )