Rhea Chakraborty won't be attending IIFA, says she was not aware of lookout notice against her

Rhea Chakraborty won't be attending IIFA 2022. The actress said that she wasn't aware of a lookout notice issued against her by some agency.

Rhea Chakraborty was set to travel to Abu Dhabi from June 2 to 5 to attend the 22nd edition of IIFA. However, the actress has now told the special court under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDOS) Act that she will not be attending the award ceremony. Rhea informed the court that while making an application last week seeking permission for travelling to Abu Dhabi, she was not aware that a lookout notice was issued by an agency against her.

Advocate Nikhil Maneshinde, representing Rhea Chakraborty, was present in the court along with Special Public Prosecutor Atul Sarpande representing the agency. Maneshinde told the court that the actress had filed a miscellaneous application for return of passport and permission to travel abroad which was partly allowed by the court. But in this regard, Rhea, accused number 10 in the case registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), states that she will not be availing the order and won't be travelling this time, and therefore she won't be required to comply with the conditions laid down in the order.

Maneshinde categorically stated that, while filing the application, they were not aware of a lookout notice issued by an agency against Rhea Chakraborty. Therefore, the actress won't avail passport and travel abroad for the IIFA. With this, the court asked the agency for the investigating officer of NCB to take note of it. They were directed not to issue a passport to Rhea Chakraborty.

Earlier, Rhea Chakraborty was granted a four-day permission to travel to Abu Dhabi for the IIFA. The actress had filed a plea to the court stating that she was invited by the director and co-founder of IIFA to give away an award on June 3 and to host an interaction during the main ceremony on June 4. Her plea requested permission to travel to Abu Dhabi from June 2 to 8. However, the court granted her permission only till June 5 as the next date of hearing in her case is on June 7.

The actress had stated in her application that due to the case registered against her, she has already suffered significant setbacks to her acting career and incurred financial losses. Hence, opportunities such as these are extremely important for her future prospects in the film industry and greatly impact her ability to earn her own livelihood. She also mentioned that her parents are financially dependent on her.

Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in September 2020 after Whatsapp chats with drug peddlers were recovered from her phone. The case was registered against her after the death of Sushant Rajput on June 14, 2020. When she was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in 2020, the court had imposed certain restrictions on her travel. Hence, for travelling abroad, Rhea must seek permission from court.