Mumbai Drugs Seizure Case: Aryan Khan's Bail Plea to be Heard on Wed | 10 Highlights

The bail application of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan‘s son Aryan Khan will be heard on Wednesday by a Mumbai special court in alleged connection with the seizure of banned drugs onboard a cruise ship. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has so far arrested 20 people in the case.

Several politicians, celebrities and netizens have extended support to Shah Rukh Khan and his family, saying that the tough times will only make Aryan Khan stronger. Opposition leaders have also raised questions over the intentions of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the alleged involvement of BJP in the case.

1. Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3 after the NCB raided a Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have recovered drugs from some persons.

2. He is currently in judicial custody and lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai. Aryan Khan approached the special court for bail on October 8 after his plea for the same was rejected by a magistrate’s court last week on the ground that it did not have the jurisdiction to decide the matter.

3. In his plea, Aryan Khan said he was innocent and has not committed any crime and that he has been falsely implicated in the case. There is nothing on record to suggest that the present applicant (Aryan Khan) is in any way connected with the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export or use of any psychotropic substance or the financing, illicit trafficking and/or harbouring of offenders in relation to any narcotic drugs, the bail application said.

4. The bail plea added that no incriminating contraband drugs or



any other material were recovered from Aryan Khan and that he had strong roots in the society and hence there was no likelihood of him absconding or fleeing from justice.

5. NCB’s advocates A M Chimalkar and Advait Sethna had said the investigation in the case was still on and there was quite a lot of material collected by the agency and at this stage, it needs to be seen if releasing Aryan Khan on bail would hamper the probe into the case. The court asked the NCB to file its reply on October 13 on the same.

6. Aryan Khan’s bail application further said that the NCB has mechanically and without application of mind applied the provisions of the NDPS Act against Aryan Khan without any evidence or material to corroborate the same.

7. The anti-drugs agency had also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats Aryan Khan is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used. Apart from Aryan Khan, four other accused in the case - Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha, Nupur Sateja, and Mohak Jaiswal - have also filed bail pleas in the special court.

8. The defence said Aryan Khan was “falsely implicated" and releasing him on bail would not stop the probe.

9. Aryan Khan has been charged with offences under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act about the possession, consumption and purchase of drugs.

10. In a related development, a local court in Mumbai has remanded six accused Okaro Ouzama, Abdul Kadir, Shreyas Nair, Manish Rajgariya, Chinedu Pgwe and Shivraj Ramdas - in the case to judicial custody till October 25.