Aryan Khan drug case: The Bombay High Court is expected to hear a bail application today
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court is expected to hear the bail applications of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and a few others, who were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 following a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast during which drugs were seized.
VV Patil, the special judge for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases, denied bail on Wednesday for Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant (26) and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha (28).
The court observed that ‘on the face of it’, he (Aryan Khan) was indulging in “illicit drug activities on a regular basis”. His WhatsApp chats also showed, prima facie, that he was in touch with drug peddlers, the court noted.
The lawyers of Aryan Khan (23), arrested with a few others on October 3 after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs including charas, then moved the Bombay High Court.
The matter is likely to be mentioned on Thursday before Justice N W Sambre seeking an urgent hearing, legal sources said.
The special NDPS Act court in its 21-page order noted that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan prima facie revealed that he was “dealing in illicit drug activities on a regular basis” and therefore it cannot be said that he was not likely to commit a similar offence if released on bail.
It also held that Aryan was aware that his friend and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant was in possession of drugs, implying ‘conscious possession,’ despite the fact that the NCB found no drugs on Aryan himself.
“Given the prima facie involvement of the applicants/accused Nos. 1 to 3 (Aryan Khan, Merchant, and Dhamecha) in the commission of a grave and serious offence, this is not a fit case for granting bail,” the judge wrote in his order.
The material placed before it by the NCB showed on the face of it that section 29 of the NDPS Act, pertaining to conspiracy, was applicable, said the court. “Therefore, it is not possible to record a satisfaction at this stage that the applicants have not committed any offence under the NDPS Act,” the order said.
Case papers and voluntary statements of Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant disclosed that they possessed drugs for consumption and enjoyment, the court noted further. “These things go to show that accused No 1 (Aryan) was having knowledge of the contraband concealed by accused No 2 (Merchant) in his shoes,” it said.
“Although no contraband is found in the possession of accused No 1, six grams of charas was found in possession of accused No 2 of which accused No 1 (Aryan) was having knowledge and thus it can be said that it was in conscious possession of both the accused,” the court added.
In Aryan’s WhatsApp chats, there is reference to “bulk quantity and hard drugs” and “there is prima facie material showing that accused No 1 was in contact with persons dealing in prohibited narcotic substances,” the order said.
“Prima facie it appears that there is a case of conspiracy and abetment as alleged by the prosecution,” it said. Earlier, a magistrate’s court had rejected the accused’s bail pleas, saying only a special court can hear these matters.
Khan, Merchant, and Dhamecha, among others, were arrested on October 3 under the NDPS Act for alleged drug conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase, and trafficking.
They are now being held in judicial custody. While Aryan Khan and Merchant are being held at the Arthur Road prison, Dhamecha is being held at the city’s Byculla women’s prison. So far, 20 people have been arrested in connection with the case.
