Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey on Thursday clarified that his remark on actor Rhea Chakraborty was only meant to convey that she had no stature to question Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, since she was an accused in the Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. Pandey’s comment that Chakraborty had no ‘aukat’ to raise questions on Kumar a day earlier was seen as misogynistic.

“The meaning of ‘aukat’ in English language is stature,” Pandey told ANI. “Rhea Chakraborty does not have the stature to comment on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. She should not forget that she is a named accused in the FIR in Sushant Singh Rajput’s case, which was under me and is now with the Central Bureau of Investigation.”

Pandey added that he would not have objected if a politician questioned Kumar. “If a political leader comments on Bihar CM, then I am nobody to comment over it,” he said. “But if an accused made some baseless comment on him, then it is objectionable. She [Chakraborty] should fight the battle legally.”

After the top court ruled on Wednesday that the FIR filed against Chakraborty in Patna was lawful and upheld CBI investigation in the case, Pandey had attacked the actor for her remarks against the Bihar chief minister. Chakraborty had accused the Bihar govermment of politicising Rajput’s death. “Rhea Chakraborty does not have the aukat to comment on the Bihar chief minister,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV. “What the police did was correct, and according to legal and constitutional provisions.”

Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai on June 14, in what the Mumbai Police said was a case of suicide. Rajput’s father KK Singh had filed an FIR against Chakraborty last month, accusing her of driving his son to suicide.

The CBI took over the inquiry into Rajput’s death earlier this month as the Centre accepted the Bihar government’s recommendation to involve the investigation agency in the case.

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