Under fire, Bihar police chief defends remark on Rhea Chakraborty

Bihar Director General of
Police, Gupteshwar Pandey, who has been criticized for his ‘aukat’ (stature) comment on actor Rhea Chakraborty, said that he meant as an accused in the Sushant
Singh Rajput case, she had no right to criticise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,
reported news agency ANI.

After his comment, the Bihar
police chief was called out on social media for using words like ‘aukat’ that many saw as ‘misogynistic
and toxic’. But he did not stop there and instead ended up repeating the
statement on Wednesday.

“The meaning of ‘Aukat’ in
English is stature. Rhea Chakraborty does not have the stature to comment on
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. She shouldn’t forget that she is named an
accused in the FIR in the Sushant Singh Rajput case which was under me and now
with CBI,” Mr Pandey told news agency ANI.

“If a political
leader comments on Bihar CM (Chief Minister), then I am nobody to comment over
it. But if an accused makes some baseless comment on Bihar CM then it is
objectionable. She should fight the battle legally,” he said.

The Bihar police chief was asked about Rhea Chakraborty
referring to Nitish Kumar in her statement to the Supreme Court on politics
playing a role in Bihar’s investigations into the FIR registered by Sushant
Singh Rajput’s father and the state’s move to hand over the case to the CBI.

“Rhea Chakraborty does not have the aukat to
comment on the Bihar Chief Minister. What the police did was correct, and
according to legal and constitutional provisions,” Mr Pandey had responded.
The comment stirred a raging debate on Twitter.

Sushant Singh Rajput, a
34-year-old Bollywood star, was found dead on June 14 in his flat in Mumbai.