Guwahati: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in connection with the Mumbai cruise drugs seizure case. The court will resume the hearing at 2.30 pm on Wednesday.
A single bench of Justice NW Sambre began the hearing of Aryan Khan’s bail plea on Tuesday. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), represented by ASG Anil Singh, opposed Aryan Khan’s bail plea, alleging that he was not just a consumer of drugs but also involved in illicit drug trafficking.
The NCB also claimed that Aryan Khan and a woman named Pooja Dadlani, Shah Rukh Khan’s manager, were tampering with the evidence and witnesses in the case in order to derail the investigation.
Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Aryan Khan, argued, “Aryan was not a customer. He was a special guest. He was invited by a man named Pradeep Gaba who is an event manager. Aryan and Arbaaz were invited. They were there without tickets. They reached around 4.30 pm at the cruise terminal.”
“It appears that NCB had prior information about people carrying drugs so they were present in some strength,” argued Mukul Rohatgi.
Rohatgi added, “After Aryan and Arbaaz, many others were arrested. Nothing was recovered from Aryan and no medical examination was done to show that he had consumed drugs. Arbaaz had some 6 grams in his shoes and Arbaaz denies it and says it was planted but I am not concerned with that except that he was Aryan’s friend.”
“They [NCB] are saying that conscious possession as it was in Arbaaz’s shoes. This is too farfetched. Conscious possession is what is under my control and known to me,” argued Mukul Rohatgi.
While stating that ‘conscious possession cannot be held against his client, Mukul Rohatgi argued that the small quantity of drugs recovered from Arbaaz Merchantt is not enough to keep Aryan Khan in jail.
Aryan Khan, 23, was arrested on October 3 along with several others during a raid by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Cordelia Cruises’ Empress ship off the Mumbai coast. His bail application was earlier rejected by both the magistrate court and the special NDPS court.
Meanwhile, two other accused arrested by the NCB on October 2, Avin Sahu and Manish Rajgaria, were granted bail by the special NDPS court on Tuesday. Both the accused are the first in the drugs case to get bail.
Manish was arrested by the NCB for allegedly possessing 2.4 grams of ganja.
(Inputs From India Today)
