Aryan Khan Drugs Case Updates: No bail for SRK's son, hearing adjourned for Thursday

Lawyers of accused Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha & Arbaz Merchant conclude arguments on their bail applications before Bombay HC; ASG Anil Singh for NCB will respond to the arguments tomorrow.

Accused Munmun Dhamecha's lawyer Kashif Khan Deshmukh, arguing for her bail before Bombay HC says, "I am a fashion model & do stage shows & ramp walks. I was invited by one person on the cruise for my professional obligations."

Adv Deshmukh is reading out the Sessions court order: I am not connected in the present case. There is nothing found on me. If they conduct a medical test, they will find nothing against me(Munmun).

Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh begins submissions for Munmun Dhamecha.

Amit Desai concludes his submissions.

Mukul Rohtagi, representing Aryan Khan, requests the Bombay High Court to go through the arrest memo again. He points out that at the time of Aryan Khan's arrest there were no charges of conspiracy.

Desai : WhatsApp chats are inadmissible without Section 65B certificate. digial evidence has to be verified and Punjab and Haryana HC had said so in an NDPS matter.

Desai points out how according to them 6gms were recovered from Arbaaz and 5gms from Munmun. Despite this the, remand application mentions 21 gms of charas. "What is abundantly clear is that there are no WhatsApp chats that connect conspiracy to the rave party," says Desai.

Accused Arbaz Merchant's lawyer Amit Desai tells Bombay High Court, "There was medical test to ascertain the consumption. We were arrested for an offence, under Section 27 of NDPS Act, which didn't take place."

Desai continues, "The statement in the chats that they were going on a cruise to have a blast was actually about consumption only, at maximum. As (Mukul) Rohatgi pointed out that this is a case of aborting. There was a plan which didn't happen."

"The intention to consume also should not apply as no medical test was done," argues Amit Desai.

Desai : Except personal consumption there was no allegation of use in arrest memo. Desai says panchnama "demolishes the case of conspiracy". It says Arbaaz confessed. Let that be as it is. Keeping his retraction aside. This is accepting whatever they are saying for the moment. Desai asserts still it is only a small quantity for sake of consumption.

Desai says far more incriminating material is said by others in their 'inadmissible' voluntary statements about purchase and sale. "But mine is only about consumption", he adds.

Desai contends that the three are not accused of 'use' as defined under the NDPS Act as per the arrest memo. "No allegation in the arrest memo of 'use'. So there was a clear understanding that this was a case of nothing more than personal consumption."

"Bail is the rule and jail is the exception. Now it has become 'arrest is the rule and bail is the exception'," says Amit Desai.

Amit Desai:  First remand application does not talk about conspiracy. So the court, at the time of the first remand, was misled into believing that they were also charged under section 28 and 29 of the NDPS Act. We are now 22 days in custody for issues that have now come for consideration.

Senior counsel Amit Desai, arguing for bail of accused Arbaz Merchant, tells Bombay HC that based on assessment of articles recovered on Oct 3, only consumption was alleged. "If there was no conspiracy at that moment, how come conspiracy came later," he asks.

(ANI)

Amit Desai submits that the arrest is illegal and explains why. He reads the Arnesh Kumar judgment, which prescribed directions against automatic arrest in lesser offences. He says in minor offences, the arrest is the exception. This is the diktat of the Arnesh Kumar judgment. And this is the change in the approach of the police.

He adds that especially when the offences alleged are punishable with less than one year. A notice under section 41a of the CrPC should have been issued, asking them to join the investigation.

Bombay High Court resumes hearing on bail applications of Aryan Khan & other accused; senior consel Amit Desai starts arguments for the bail of Arbaz Merchant.

Former attorney general of India, Mukul Rohatgi reaches Bombaby high Court. He will argue for Aryan Khan.

Aryan Khan's lawyer Satish Maneshinde reaches Bombay High Court

Satish Maneshinde

Lawyer Amit Desai has reached the high court. He will argue for Arbaaz Merchantt.

While Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is in Arthur Road Jail, Ananya Panday is being interrogated by the Narcotics Control Bureau. Reportedly, during the investigation into the drugs case, the NCB had found some WhatsApp chats between the two star kids where they allegedly talked about drugs procurement and consumption. Amidst the ongoing case, old pictures of Aryan and Ananya have gone viral on social media. 

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Nawab Malik continues with his allegations against Sameer Wankhede. In his latest tweet, he claims that in the first marriage of Sameer Wankhede a Nikah was performed.

The NCB opposed Aryan Khan's bail plea in an affidavit filed before the HC, alleging he was not just a consumer of drugs, but also involved in illicit drug trafficking. The agency said prima facie investigation revealed that Aryan Khan used to procure drugs from Arbaaz Merchant and was in touch with "some persons abroad who appear to be part of an international drug network". The affidavit further said though drugs were not recovered from Aryan Khan, he "participated in the conspiracy".

Mumbai NCB's Zonal Direct Sameer Wankhede reached Mumbai from Delhi late at night. However, he did not say anything in Aryan Khan case or NCB vigilance investigation.

Sameer Wankhede at airport

In the HC, Aryan Khan's lawyers Mukul Rohatgi and Satish Maneshinde argued before Justice N W Sambre that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had no evidence against him.

• He contended that the "legislative intent" behind the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, under which Aryan Khan and others, were arrested was reformation in cases involving small quantities of drugs. The Act intends that young persons be treated as victims and not as accused, he said.
• Aryan Khan is a "young boy with no prior antecedents," Rohatgi added.
• "Section 64A of the Act provides immunity to those persons who have been accused of possessing small quantities. If these persons are agreeable to be sent to rehab then that should be allowed. Aryan's case is not even of possession or consumption," Rohatgi said, adding he cannot be held responsible for some other person's alleged possession of drugs.
• The 23-year-old has been wrongly arrested and kept in jail for over 20 days, he said.
• The case was being blown out of proportions by some people who have vested interests and the media was paying attention to it because of some unsavoury controversies, otherwise it was a simple case, he added.
• "There is no evidence of consumption, no recovery of drugs and absolutely no evidence to show his participation in this so-called conspiracy and abetment as alleged by the NCB," Rohatgi said.

In another development related to the cruise drugs case, a special NDPS Act court granted bail to two accused arrested in the case - Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu.
They are the only accused who have been granted bail so far in the much publicized case, in which 20 people, including Aryan Khan, were arrested since the alleged seizure of drugs on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast early this month.

 The legal team of Aryan Khan told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday there was no evidence against him in the drugs-on-cruise case and was wrongly arrested as he distanced himself from the raging allegations of extortion attempt against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who came under a fresh around of attack from Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.

Bombay High Court will resume the hearing of Aryan Khan's bail plea in the Mumbai cruise drug case today (October 27). During arguments on Tuesday, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued that Shah Rukh Khan's son is a "young man" who should be sent to rehab rather than jail. The 23-year-old star son was arrested on October 3 after a drugs raid on a cruise ship party by Narcotics Control Bureau officers in disguise. At present, Aryan is lodged at the Arthur Road Jail. Along with him, another accused Arbaaz Merchant is also stationed there. Whereas, Munmun Dhamecha is at Byculla women prison.