July 25, 2017
The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed Telangana excise
authorities probing the drug racket not to compel actress Charmme Kaur to give
her blood, nail and hair samples for analysis.
The court order came on
Charmme's petition a day before she is to appear before the Special
Investigation Team (SIT) for questioning.
However, the court dismissed
Charmme's plea to direct SIT to question her in the presence of her lawyer.
The actress' lawyer Vishnuvardhan Reddy told reporters that the court also
directed officials to quiz her between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. It observed that if
necessary the officials may call her again for questioning.
SIT was also
directed to include a woman officer in the team of officers which will question
her.
Reddy said Charmme would inform the SIT the place where she would
like to be questioned. She had earlier informed SIT that she will appear at its
office.
Summoned for questioning, the actress had moved the court,
seeking direction to SIT not to collect her blood, hair and nail samples through
coercion. Her lawyer argued that collecting samples without consent is illegal.
Charmme, also known as Charmi in film circles, said that she comes from a
respectable family and apprehends that her samples may be taken without her
consent.
"If the same happens, I, being an unmarried lady, will have to
face serious consequences in the eyes of society spoiling my career and future,"
she had said in the petition.
Akun Sabharwal, Director, Enforcement,
Prohibition & Excise Department, who is heading the probe, had said on Monday
that they were not forcing anybody to give the samples. He also told the media
that the four-member team of officials questioning the people summoned in the
case includes a lady officer.
Charmme is one of the 12 personalities from
the Telugu film industry summoned by SIT for questioning in the drug racket
which was busted here earlier this month.
The SIT has so far grilled six
celebrities, including actors Tarun, Navdeep and director Puri Jagannadh.
They were summoned after the SIT found their contact details in the call
data of Calvin Mascrenhas, the kingpin of the racket.