SSR case: Ex-roommate Siddharth Pithani granted interim relief for wedding
Sushant Singh Rajput's ex-roommate Siddharth Pithani has been granted interim relief by the court on account of his wedding, reports say. Pithani, who was arrested last month in connection to the drug case linked to the 34-year-old actor's death in 2020, has been given a 10-day relief and he will have to surrender on July 2. To note, he has not been granted bail.
Gets relief on 'humanitarian grounds,' asked to surrender on July-2
The news was confirmed by his lawyer Tareq Sayyed, who told a portal that Pithani was granted the interim relief on "humanitarian grounds." Days after being nabbed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Pithani had applied for bail on June 12. Informing the court that he was set to marry on June 26, Pithani had promised to surrender following the nuptials.
NCB had clarified his wedding had no relation with case
On their part, the central agency clarified that they had no knowledge of Pithani's wedding plans. Pithani had applied for a regular bail, and his lawyer had also appealed "to the honorable judge to give him interim bail so that he can get married." Once that was done, NCB noted that his wedding had nothing to do with their case and ongoing investigation.
Here is the difference between interim bail and interim relief
Interim bail is a temporary bail applied, while one's application for an anticipatory bail or regular bail is pending before a court. It can be sought at any stage of the trial/hearing. Meanwhile, interim relief can be granted only to those whose trial is pending.
Pithani was nabbed via his pizza party post
Tracing back, Rajput's former housemate was evading NCB's summons for almost a year. He had shifted to Hyderabad and deleted his social media accounts, making it hard to track him. NCB finally traced him in April this year when he opened a new Instagram handle. While most posts were about art, an upload of a pizza party at a gym gave his location away.
NCB also arrested a drug peddler following Pithani's arrest
Pithani, who is an actor and graphic designer, had also posted an image of his engagement ceremony on May 14. Following Pithani's arrest, NCB had nabbed a drug peddler, Haris Khan. Earlier, the federal agency had identified one Sahil Shah, a drug peddler, as the key suspect in the drug case. Recently, the late actor's bodyguard and househelps were also called in for questioning.
