Mumbai drug case: HC rejects bail pleas of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchantt and Munmun Dhamecha
Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchantt and Munmun Dhamecha to remain in judicial custody after the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (October 26) adjourned their bail pleas in the drugs on cruise case. The hearing will continue tomorrow (October 27) at 2:30 pm. The decision was taken after Merchant's lawyer and the ASG said that they will need 45 minutes each for their arguments. They were earlier denied bail twice, both by a Mumbai magistrate court and special NDPS court, ever since their arrest on October 3. After bail rejection in special NDPS court, Aryan's lawyers moved a bail application in the Bombay HC against the court order. Since October 8, he has been in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail and was briefly in the custody of the NCB before that.
A single bench of Justice N W Sambre heard the bail plea of Aryan Khan. The Narcotics Control Bureau had alleged that 23-year-old was not just a consumer of drugs but also involved in illicit drug trafficking. Not only this but NCB even claimed that Aryan and SRK's manager Pooja Dadlani, were tampering with the evidence and witnesses in the case in an attempt to derail the investigation.
"This is evident from the contents of a purported affidavit of one Prabhakar Sail," the agency said, referring to the allegations of extortion attempt made by Sail, an independent witness in the case. The affidavit also referred to Pooja Dadlani and said "this lady appears to have influenced panch witnesses when the investigation is ongoing".
Later, an affidavit was filed in the court on behalf of Aryan Khan, which stated that there was no deal with the Narcotics Control Bureau officials from his side, adding that it was a matter between the politicians and NCB.
The affidavit that was submitted on behalf of Aryan also mentioned that he does not know Prabhakar Sail nor has any link to it and the allegations that are being made recently have nothing to do with the 23-year-old. Aryan Khan has not levelled any allegation against NCB officials.
Also read: Aryan Khan Drugs Case LIVE Updates: High Court to hear Shah Rukh Khan's son's bail appeal today
During the investigation, the probing agency presented certain WhatsApp chats in which the name of actress Ananya Panday also surfaced. She has appeared for questioning by NCB twice. She was supposed to be interrogated for the third time on Monday but the actress skipped due to personal commitment. Fresh summons will be issued to Ananya by the NCB.
