SSR Case: Gave no permission to Rhea to visit morgue, BMC said

Taking suo moto cognisance of the issue last week, SHRC Acting Chairmans M.A. Sayeed had issued notice to the BMC and Mumbai Police, seeking their explanation by August 31

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday told the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) that it had not permitted actress Rhea Chakraborty's purported "visit" to the morgue where late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's body was kept.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the issue last week, SHRC Acting Chairman's M.A. Sayeed had issued notice to the BMC and Mumbai Police, seeking their explanation by August 31.

Pinakin Gujjar, the Dean of R.N. Cooper Hospital, along with a civic Law Officer, appeared before the SHRC and submitted a brief letter, stating that the BMC had not given any permission to the actress to enter the morgue.

Reportedly not satisfied with the reply, Sayeed has now ordered the BMC to file a detailed affidavit, along with the names and versions of all persons concerned present at the time when the actress is said to have gone to the mortuary.

Simultaneously, the SHRC on Monday also sent a reminder notice to the Mumbai Police, seeking its response in the matter which it is treating on priority.

The SHRC top officials acted after viewing social media videos and news reports of Rhea going to the Cooper Hospital morgue, Vile Parle, on June 14, hours after Sushant was found dead at his Bandra home and his body taken there.

The SHRC's legal wing studied the relevant provisions pertaining to this high-profile "visit" - as only the immediate family members of any deceased person can be permitted in the morgue.

The SHRC had asked Gujjar and Mumbai Police to explain the circumstances behind Rhea getting permission for access to the morgue to view the mortal remains of the late actor, just hours after his death was discovered.

After the videos went viral on social media and television networks, the SHRC received several complaints in the matter in July, following which it initiated the suo moto action last week.

The sources said that since entry is not permitted in morgues to persons not related to the deceased, all those found involved in the matter could be liable for the relevant legal consequences.

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