Shah Rukh Khan's Son Aryan Finally Gets Bail in Drugs-on-Cruise Case
13:16 GMT 28.10.2021 (Updated: 20:50 GMT 19.10.2022)
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A huge scandal has hit Bollywood after India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and his friends earlier this month for allegedly "possessing and consuming drugs" at a rave party on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and his friends Arbaaz Merchantt and Munmun Dhamecha after 25 days in jail in the drugs-on-cruise ship case.
The High Court will pronounce a detailed order with reasons on Friday and all three accused are expected to be out of jail by Friday or Saturday.
During Thursday's hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, representing the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), said that Aryan isn't a "first-time offender" and has been "consuming drugs for the past few years".
"There is a reference of bulk quantity and commercial quantity of drugs. He has been in contact with drug peddlers", Singh told the court.
Bombay HC has granted bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha after hearing the arguments for 3 days. The detailed order will be given tomorrow. Hopefully, all they will come out of the jail by tomorrow or Saturday: Former AG Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Aryan Khan pic.twitter.com/jQGKYIBxrn
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2021
Over the past two days, the lawyers for the three accused - former Indian Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi along with Amit Desai and Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh - have made strong arguments before the Bombay High Court, claiming that their clients' arrest was illegal.
Rohatgi argued on Tuesday that Aryan was "wrongfully detained" and told the court there was "no consumption, no possession" of drugs.
He further pointed out that "no medical test was done", and hence, there is nothing on record to show that he had consumed drugs.
To this, NCB's Singh replied in the High Court on Thursday: "There is no question of testing them for drugs when they haven't consumed it. They were found in possession. It is our case that Aryan Khan was found in conscious possession of the drug".
[BREAKING] Bombay High Court grants bail to Aryan Khan, two others in cruise ship drug case
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) October 28, 2021
report by @Neha_Jozie #AryanKhanDrugsCase #AryanKhanBail #BombayHighCourt
Read full story: https://t.co/T9ui6pxOoS pic.twitter.com/7kyUoPK5jO
Before the Bombay High Court, Aryan's bail plea was denied several times by a special anti-drugs court on the grounds that he knew about the contraband hidden in his friend Arbaaz Merchant's shoe, and this amounted to "conscious possession".
During the raid, the NCB seized six grams of charas (a contraband drug) concealed in Merchant's shoe.
While Rohatgi argued that Aryan's case is not of "conscious possession" of drugs, and a small quantity of drugs calls for rehab rather than jail, Singh reiterated.
"If two people are travelling together, and the first person knows the drug is with the other and it is for their consumption...Though the person may not be in actual physical possession, he may be in 'conscious possession'", Singh stated.
When asked by the court about the NCB's claims that Aryan tried to deal with commercial quantities, Singh referred to the WhatsApp chats as evidence, and said that "multiple drugs were found from eight people" when they were arrested.
"When I say conspiracy, I calculate drugs of all persons, then it comes to that", Singh said.
After getting a tip-off about the cruise rave party, the NCB conducted a raid on 2 October and arrested Aryan and his friends Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sarika, Ishmeet Singh, Mohak Jaswal, Vikrant Chhokar, and Gomit Chopra.
They were held on 3 October for allegedly possessing and consuming drugs on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai.
Although Aryan's lawyer claimed that he had simply been invited to the event by the party organisers and that no drugs were recovered from him, NCB officer Sameer Wankhede said there was evidence to the contrary.
The NCB has arrested as many as 20 people.
On the other hand, Sameer Wankhede, the NCB officer investigating the case, has been accused of extortion, fraud, and framing Aryan and others by Maharashtra State Minister Nawab Malik.
Meanwhile, a special team of NCB officers from New Delhi is now investigating the allegations against Sameer Wankhede and the drug raid carried out at the beginning of October.
