Aryan Khan granted bail from Bombay HC
Aryan Khan has been granted bail from the Bombay High Court in the infamous “drugs on cruise” case.
A single-judge bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre after hearing the arguments of both the sides accepted the plea of bail made by accused Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha in the controversial case.
The three along with others had been arrested by the NCB on 2nd of October in an alleged drug bust on a cruise ship named Cordelia, which was bound from Mumbai to Goa.
However, Aryan Khan would not be able to walk back home today as a bit of paperwork needs to be completed before he will be allowed to leave. It is expected that the order of bail will be exercised tomorrow.
It is interesting to note that had Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, failed to secure bail by tomorrow (Friday), he would have had to spend the next 15 days in jail as the courts will be closed from 1st of November to 12th November, owing to Diwali vacations. The court will also remain closed on 13th and 14th of November as it is a Saturday and a Sunday.
Other developments
In other developments related to the same case, Kiran Gosavi, the absconding “independent witness” of NCB, was nabbed by Pune City Police. Gosavi had vanished soon after his selfie with Aryan Khan went viral post the raid conducted by NCB.
Kiran Gosavi is a self-proclaimed private detective who has cases of fraud registered against him. People have been raising questioning over NCB’s choice of “independent witness”
Further, Gosavi’s personal bodyguard Prabhakar Sail also came forward recently and alleged misconduct and extortion of 25 crores by Gosavi, allegedly by conniving with NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.
Sameer Wankhede has been in news himself many times over his indiscriminate handling of Bollywood celebs, which some might consider to be a way of getting into limelight.
Courtroom observations
In the courtroom, Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi representing Aryan Khan called his arrest “arbitrary”. He further added that no drugs were found on Aryan Khan and no medical examination was done by anyone after the conclusion of the raid to prove whether he had consumed any contraband substance.
Mukul Rohatgi further added that there is no material evidence to prove any kind of conspiracy. ASG Anil Singh argued that “conspiracy is difficult to prove. Only the conspirators know how they conspired”.
Since 2 people had already been given bails recently, Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of Aryan Khan argued that his case is of “default bail” if anyone else gets bailed out in the same case.
After hearing all the sides, the learned judge granted bail to Aryan Khan and his friends Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
Timeline of the case
The alleged possession of drugs by Aryan Khan on the Cordelia Cruise ship follows the following timeline:
October 3,2021-NCB raids cruise ship Cordelia and takes 8 people under custody including Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
October 11,2021-The lawyers of the accused move a special NDPS court in Mumbai for bail. The special court sets 14th of October as the date of hearing.
October 14,2021-NCB, in the hearing, stated that Aryan Khan has been a regular user of the contraband in the past years. Mumbai special court reserves its order.
October 20,2021– The Mumbai special court rejected Aryan Khan’s bail plea along with the bail plea of Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. The court said that Aryan Khan’s case amounts to conscious possession of the contraband as he had the knowledge of his friend carrying the substance. The court further relied on the chats submitted to it by the NCB from Aryan Khan’s phone.
October 21,2021– Shah Rukh Khan meets his son Aryan Khan and is seen in public first time since the arrest of Aryan Khan. NCB visits Shah Rukh Khan’s home “Mannat”. NCB also summons Ananya Panday on the basis of the chats discussing drugs with Aryan Khan.
October 26, 2021-Mukul Rohatgi flies to Mumbai to join the legal team of Aryan Khan. The bail plea is made to the Bombay High Court.
October 28, 2021- Aryan Khan along with co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha is granted bail by the Bombay High Court.