Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Assam govt on a bail plea filed by event organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, an accused in the murder and cheating case linked to the death of Zubeen Garg during a yacht trip in Singapore in Sept 2025.A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi issued a notice to the state and posted the matter for hearing at the end of July.Mahanta moved the Supreme Court challenging a May 29 order of the Gauhati high court rejecting his bail application. He was arrested on Oct 1 last year and has been in judicial custody since then.A fast-track court here is separately hearing the entire case based on the Assam Police SIT’s chargesheet. According to the chargesheet, Mahanta has been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including criminal conspiracy, murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, destruction of evidence, extortion, cheating and criminal breach of trust.The Singapore Police Force, which carried out a separate probe, has concluded that there was no evidence of foul play in the case. A coroner’s court in Singapore also said Garg was intoxicated and drowned off Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket.The prosecution alleges that Garg’s death was not a case of accidental drowning, but the result of a criminal conspiracy in which the singer was deliberately exposed to dangerous circumstances despite his known medical vulnerabilities.Investigators allege that Mahanta, one of the organisers of the North East India Festival in Singapore, was aware that Garg suffered from epilepsy, underwent alcohol de-addiction treatment and was medically advised to avoid alcohol and water-related activities.The state has alleged that Mahanta facilitated the supply of alcohol to the singer and was aware of the yacht trip in advance, and failed to ensure adequate safety and medical arrangements. Prosecutors have also accused him of fleeing to Malaysia after the incident, leading to the issuance of a lookout circular and alerts through Interpol before he was detained at Delhi airport.Mahanta has denied these allegations, maintaining that the incident was an accidental drowning and that he was neither present on the yacht nor involved in organising the trip. He has also denied attempting to evade investigation.Rejecting bail earlier, the Gauhati high court held that the evidence collected during the investigation prima facie indicates Mahanta’s involvement in the alleged conspiracy and noted that the possibility of witness tampering and absconding could not be ruled out.
