Aryan Khan bail plea: Bombay HC to continue hearing on Wednesday
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Oct, 2021 12:25 PM
Mumbai, Oct 26 (IANS) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned, till Wednesday, the hearing of the bail application of superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who has been arrested along with 19 others in the cruise party case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Making a forceful plea for bail to Aryan Khan, his lawyer and former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the star-son was a special invitee to the ship through event manager Prateek Gaba.
Both Aryan and Arbaaz Merchant were caught before they boarded the ship on October 2, nothing was recovered from Aryan, and the NCB has nothing to show he consumed anything (drugs), he said.
"He was arrested on Ocober 3 and his statement recorded. There was no occasion to arrest my client, short and simple," Rohatgi told a single judge bench of Justice N.W. Sambre.
He pointed out that even though the NCB officers are not police officers, they exercise police powers, and citing a precedent, said that confessions given to them are inadmissible as evidence.
Contending that Aryan Khan was "wrongly arrested", Rohatgi said the only thing against him was he arrived with Merchant, and apparently had knowledge of the drugs found on the latter, and hence, had "conscious possession".
However, in Aryan Khan's case, there was no conscious possession at all and even if this is considered the maximum punishment is one year for the 6 gms (seized from Merchant).
He also questioned the NCB's charges under various acts including charging him with conspiracy, and said that the WhatsApp chats recovered from Aryan Khan's phone, which are cited but not on record, don't relate to the cruise party.
Moreover, he said even if there was a plan to smoke there, it was aborted as they were arrested before, but the penalty (by the NCB) was of consumption, and argued that there was no case of either consumption, sale, or purchase of drugs.
Rohatgi said that Aryan is not accusing anybody from the NCB nor concerned or connected with the 'Panch Witness' (Prabhakar Sail or Kiran Gosavi) and their allegations, adding that while the NCB Mumbai said it (the controversy) was due to some political leader, today they are blaming Aryan for it.
He pointed out that Aryan Khan's mobile phone was not seized and when the court asked the basis for the chats, Rohatgi said they were older chats and nothing to do with the cruise case.
He reiterated that Aryan Khan went there, had nothing on him, but was arrested, has not financed anybody for drug trafficking or cultivating drug plants or production.
Another lawyer for Aryan Khan, Amit Desai said that the NCB is roping in anybody and everybody under the "umbrella charge of conspiracy" and when Aryan Khan, Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested, they were not booked by the agency for conspiring.
As the matter went beyond the regular court hours, it will now continue further before Justice Sambre on Wednesday afternoon.
The awards are being presented at the Vigyan Bhawan in the capital. Manoj Bajpayee was awarded the best actor award for his performance in Bhonsle. This his 3rd National Award.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, who led the cruise drug bust relating to superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan but now faces bribe allegations, reached Delhi on Monday evening but denied that he had been summoned by any agency.
NCB official sources have hinted that there is apparently no evidence of any "drug-related exchanges" in her alleged WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan - the son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan - who has been arrested in the drugs case and currently in judicial custody till October 30.
The pony-tailed senior Khan sporting dark shades and a black facemask over a grey half-sleeved T-shirt was virtually mobbed by the paparazzi and the hordes of policemen as he entered the menacing barred gates of the ARCJ in the congested south Mumbai.
Along with Aryan Khan - the son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the other seven accused - arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 3 after the October 2 raid on a rave party aboard a cruise ship - were also sent to judicial custody till October 30 by the court.
Talking of 'Sooryavanshi', the film is now set for a massive theatrical release after its run-ins with delays and uncertainties. The film which also stars Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff and Jaaved Jaaferi with Ajav Devgn and Ranveer Singh in extended cameo appearances, will hit the screens on November 5 and will quell the audience's hunger for a true blue Bollywood potboiler, this Diwali.
