Aryan Khan denied bail after 17 days in custody; lawyers to approach Bombay HC for redressal

Aryan Khan’s bail, along with that of Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, was denied by a special Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court in Mumbai today (20 October).

Special Judge VV Patil had reserved the judgment on 14 October, following following extensive arguments by NCB’s representative and Khan’s lawyer.

As per News18, Aryan’s lawyer Amit Desai is set to move the Bombay High Court for redressal.  Desai told News18, “We have to read the order first…I don’t have the order yet…we will move the high court once we get the order.”

#MumbaiDrugsCase | Aryan Khan's bail plea rejected. His team will now approach Bombay High Court.

Lawyer of Munmun Dhamecha speaks to @vinivdvc.@mihirz with more details!

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Supreme Court lawyer Avi Singh on Wednesday told NDTV that no drugs or money was found on Aryan Khan’s person and said that there is no such thing as voluntarily handing over a phone in a criminal investigation.

“Chats may or may not lead to what one has done in the last one-two years. It may or may not be connected to this. The NCB’s method of handling the matter has basically precipitated to character assassination based on chats and suspicions. The NCB has no business conducting raids on end users. Its entire purpose is to be a premiere agency which supplements the local police,” he said.

Arrested from the cruise ship Cordelia on 3 October, Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan has been in jail since 8 October, which brings the total duration of his custody to 17 days.

The trio was arrested for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and trafficking of drugs.

The trio is presently in judicial custody. While Khan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla women’s prison.

Khan and others accused in the case have been booked for offences under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act.

Here’s a recap of the arguments that were presented by both the camps on 14 October:

What did Aryan Khan’s lawyer Amit Desai say?

Senior Advocate Amit Desai had rooted for Khan and asked the court to “let him be a free man” arguing that bail could be granted to Aryan Khan as it would not take away the NCB’s right to investigate the case and accused NCB of crossing a line by opposing Aryan’s bail application.

He had also pointed out that NCB custody for Khan was allowed as a bailable offence to facilitate the investigation. He requested that strict restrictions be imposed upon Aryan instead as this is a case fit for bail.

Read Desai’s arguments in detail here

What did ASG Anil Singh say?

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, arguing on behalf of NCB, had argued against the bail application of the son of Bollywood superstar’s son, saying that Khan had a “culpable mental state” and has been a “regular consumer” for the last few years.

Singh had said the NCB will ultimately find out how all the factors are connected to each other and establish a case of conspiracy.

With inputs from PTI