After High Court, Supreme Court rejects request for probe into Sridevi's death

The actor had died on February 24 due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub.

A woman holds a picture of late Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor as she stands outside her house before Sridevi's funeral in Mumbai on February 28, 2018. India has been mourning Bollywood superstar Sridevi Kapoor after her death in Dubai aged just 54, as police in the emirate said she drowned in her hotel bathtub. Sridevi -- one of the biggest names in Hindi cinema -- died late on February 24 after suffering a cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had been attending her nephew's wedding. / AFP PHOTO / PUNIT PARANJPE

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a PIL for a probe into the recent death of veteran Bollywood actor Sridevi in a Dubai hotel. The plea was moved by Uttar Pradesh native Sunil Singh who claims to have acted in and directed a few movies and runs cinemas and visual-effect studios. Singh contended that Sridevi had Rs 240 crore life insurance cover on her name in Oman and was killed so that it could be fraudulently claimed. According to news agency PTI, in March, a Delhi High Court bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar had dismissed his petition which had claimed that the actor's death was a matter of national interest. He said in his petition that he was in Dubai on a family vacation from February 20 to February 26 when he came to know of Sridevi's death. The actor had died on February 24 due to accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub. The petitioner as quoted by PTI alleged that on enquiries made by him from the hotel staff, officials of the hospital where the 54-year-old actor was taken and others associated with the matter, he had received information which was contrary to what was reported in the media. Due to this, he had filed the petition for a probe into her death, it said. In April, the late actress won a National Award for her role in the Hindi film "Mom". The Best Actress posthumous honour was received by her husband Boney and two daughters Jhanvi and Khushi in the national capital.