MumbaiIn a major setback to Aryan Khan, the special NDPS court in Mumbai on Thursday reserved its order on the bail pleas of him and other co-accused till October 20, even as the NCB asked him to regularly use drugs. The abuser was termed an ‘addict’.
Thus, Aryan Khan – son of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan – and other co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha will remain in judicial custody at Arthur Road Central Jail and Byculla Women’s Jail for the next five days due to public holidays. In the next few days.
After hearing acrimonious arguments from the prosecution for Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and defense lawyers, Special Judge VV Patil delivered his verdict on the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, who have so far been arrested in the sensational case of 20 are among the people. Party raids of October 2, postponed for the next five days.
The NCB alleged that Aryan Khan was prima facie involved in “illicit drug trafficking, purchase and distribution of prohibited material”, and had links with certain international persons, with the NCB stating that he was a “regular consumer” of the drugs.
It said though no drugs were recovered from him, Aryan Khan was in “conscious possession” of the banned substance as he was linked to the merchant, from whom 6 grams of charas and 2.6 grams of ganja were recovered from Achit Kumar.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing NCB, said that in Aryan Khan’s WhatsApp chat, there is a specific reference to bulk quantities and Aryan Khan is not a first time consumer, and evidence on record shows that he is taking drugs . past few years.
Special Judge Patil also indicated that he would probe the alleged objectionable chat.
However, Merchant’s counsel Tarak Syed argued that the NCB could not investigate the WhatsApp chats as the mobile phones were not seized under a ‘panchnama’, which Singh countered by saying that there was voluntary surrender and the statement of the accused. .
Aryan Khan’s counsel, senior advocate Amit Desai, dismissed the allegations as baseless and argued that no drugs were recovered from him, nor did he have cash, so he had no plans to buy drugs, nor could he were going to be sold or consumed.
Making a strong plea for bail, the lawyers of the trio said that they were invited to the party and denied any involvement in the alleged illegal drug trade claimed by the NCB and also said that the alleged recovery from Merchant and Dhemcha was a There was a “small quantity” and not a commercial quantity.
Desai urged that Khan be granted bail as it would not affect the ongoing NCB investigation, adding that the agency was relying on certain alleged chats (“Let’s Have a Blast”) without verifying it as it would suggest For nothing that they have any relation with the present matter.
Strongly opposing the bail pleas, the ASG said that the NCB will examine how they are all connected to each other and establish a “conspiracy” and bail can be considered at an appropriate stage.
NCB’s Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna argued that the agency recovered 2.6 grams of ganja from Kumar, who was apprehended following Khan’s statements, which pointed to a conspiracy, while citing precedents where the accused recovered Bail was rejected for a very small amount of drugs.
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