Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son is currently in jail after he was arrested in a drugs case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) earlier this month. The 23-year-old's lawyer has been contesting the arrest and appealing for bail in court. The court is said to pronounce its verdict on the bail plea today (October 14). NCB alleges that he is involved in the conspiracy, illicit drug trafficking as well as its procurement and consumption. Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for Aryan Khan, termed the NCB's contention as "inherently absurd" and argued that when there was no recovery of drugs from him, then he should not be penalised at the stage of granting bail.
Key points presented by Aryan Khan's lawyer in favour of bail plea
- Desai told the court that the accused in the present case are young adults and not drug peddlers, traffickers or racketeers. "In many countries, these substances (drugs) are legal. Let us not penalise them at this stage when bail is sought. Let us not make it worse for them (accused). They have suffered enough and they have learnt their lesson, if at all," he said.
- Desai argued that there was no recovery of any contraband from Aryan Khan. "He (Aryan Khan) did not even have any cash. Hence, he had no plans to purchase. If he had no contraband then he was not going to consume or sell," Desai said.
- Aryan Khan's lawyer said that on October 3 only three persons were arrested – Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. The others were arrested subsequently. "The NCB cannot bring in unconnected persons and call it a conspiracy," Desai said.
- He told the court that the intermediate and commercial quantities of drugs allegedly recovered by the NCB are from the people that Aryan Khan had nothing to do with and said the NCB should have lodged two different cases.
- Desai said that when admittedly there has been no recovery of drugs from Aryan Khan there is no need to keep him in custody anymore.
Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3 following a raid on the cruise ship and is presently in judicial custody. He is lodged at the Arthur Road prison. He approached the special court seeking bail after a magistrate's court rejected the same last week.
