Aryan had approached the High Court after the special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act court rejected his bail plea last Wednesday. The NDPS court ruled that though no drugs were found on Aryan, he was aware of the fact that his friend Arbaaz Merchant was carrying them, and this amounted to “conscious possession”.
Rohatgi argued that even in a case of “conscious possession”, there is provision of one-year imprisonment. “These are young boys. Even if you admit ‘conscious possession’ of 6 grams, the idea is that the law provides for young boys with no antecedents (to be treated) as victims, rather than (as) hardened criminals. They are entitled (to) rehab and there is immunity (from) prosecution in rehab. It is a fit case for bail,” Rohatgi said.
He submitted a report by The Indian Express on a recommendation by the Social Justice Ministry that drug users be sent for rehabilitation rather than imprisoned, and said the same was important to understand the “legislative intent”. He cited past judgments, including an order by the Bombay High Court in August this year, suggesting “opportunity of reforms” for youth accused in NDPS cases.
Also Read | Aryan Khan’s bail: What are the 14 conditions?
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Also Read | Fans & fan clubs hope that King Khan sees better times
A special court dealing with cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on Saturday granted bail to nine accused arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the cruise ship drugs bust case two days after the Bombay High Court allowed the bail plea of prime accused Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and two others.
So far, 14 of the 20 arrested in the case have been granted bail. Accused Avin Sahu and Manish Rajgaria were the first to get bail on Tuesday. The high court, on Thursday, granted bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha. Read more
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Aryan Khan after being released from the Arthur Road jail on bail, in Mumbai, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Express Photo)
It was the homecoming of their "prince" Aryan Khan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan's fans made sure to make it special as they thronged in larger numbers outside the actor's bungalow here, celebrating with music, dance and firecrackers.
Aryan walked out of the Arthur Road prison after 22 days in the central Mumbai facility following his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast. He came out of the prison shortly after 11:00 am, a day after a special court issued his release memo.
As Shah Rukh's convoy arrived at the star's landmark bungalow Mannat, around 11.33 am, hundreds of fans of the actor gathered to catch a glimpse of the Khan family.
The supporters ran alongside the car, shouting, "We love Shah Rukh, we love Aryan" As soon as Aryan arrived at the bungalow, fans started dancing to the beats of the drums and burst firecrackers. --PTI
Two more accused, Shreyas Nair and Ishmeet Singh Chadha, were granted bail by the special NDPS Court on Saturday. In all, nine accused in the Mumbai drugs bust case have been granted bail by the court today.
Overall, 14 of the 20 arrested have been granted bail.
Following the much-anticipated release of Aryan Khan, co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha are next in line to walk out of the Arthur Road jail and Byculla jail, respectively.
While Arbaaz is expected to be released by the evening, Munmun's lawyer has said that they're in the process of filing surety.
The Bombay HC has directed the three accused to be released on bail on executing personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or more sureties in the like amount.
So far, 14 of the 20 arrested in connection with the Mumbai cruise ship drugs bust case have been granted bail.
Oct 14, 2021: Mumbai special court reserved its order in the bail plea of Aryan Khan for October 20, Wednesday.
Oct 20, 2021: Aryan Khan’s bail plea, along Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, was rejected by a Mumbai special court.
Oct 26, 2021: Bombay HC started hearing Aryan Khan’s bail plea. Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Aryan, argued that no drugs had been recovered from him, and no medical test had shown he consumed drugs.
Oct 28, 2021: After hearing the NCB’s reply to the arguments put forth by Aryan Khan’s counsel, the Bombay HC granted bail to Aryan and two other accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
Here’s how the case unfolded
October 3, 2021: Eight persons, including Aryan Khan, were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with an alleged drug bust onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai Coast. Three of the arrested, including Khan and two others identified as Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, were produced before a local court. They were sent in NCB custody till the next day i.e, October 4, 2021.
October 7, 2021: Mumbai magistrate’s court rejected the NCB plea seeking further custody of the three and five others picked up from the cruise. The court sent all eight in judicial custody.
October 8, 2021: The metropolitan magistrate’s court rejected the bail applications filed by Aryan Khan.
Oct 11, 2021: Lawyers of the accused moved a Mumbai special court designated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Read more
It was the homecoming of their "prince" Aryan Khan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan's fans made sure to make it special as they thronged in larger numbers outside the actor's bungalow here, celebrating with music, dance and firecrackers.
As Shah Rukh's convoy arrived at the star's landmark bungalow Mannat, around 11.33 am, hundreds of fans of the actor gathered to catch a glimpse of the Khan family. The supporters ran alongside the car, shouting, "We love Shah Rukh, we love Aryan" As soon as Aryan arrived at the bungalow, fans started dancing to the beats of the drums and burst firecrackers. The police had barricaded the area outside Mannat to control the crowd and the media contingent present. Three police vans and nearly 30 cops were present at the spot.
"Today we are standing outside Mannat and we finally feel like jannat (heaven). It was a tough time. But Shah Rukh and the family have sailed through it," a fan said. Kavita, who had come to Bandra to support her favourite actor before going for a job interview at a corporate firm, said it was important for her to "witness the moment". (PTI)
SRK’s most recent commercial, for Cadbury India, timed for Diwali and intended to promote India’s kirana stores and neighbourhood grocers — essentially, businesses affected by the pandemic and e-commerce giants — has aired right in the midst of a controversy surrounding his son, Aryan Khan, wherein the by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested him in connection with a drugs raid. The arrest led to certain groups on social media demanding a boycott of SRK’s advertisements earlier this month. In response to hashtags such as #BoycottSRK, one of India’s most notable start-ups, Byju’s temporarily suspended its commercials featuring SRK.
On October 9, the Byju's brand temporarily suspended all advertisements featuring their brand ambassador. After a pause of about four days, the advertisements were back on air, including during the T20 World Cup 2021, where Byju’s is one of the sponsors. But social media users raised doubts about positioning SRK as brand ambassador for an edtech company, when his own son had been accused in a drugs raid. When The Express reached out to Arun Iyer, founder of Spring Marketing Capital, he declined to comment, citing work abroad. It’s unclear whether Byju’s will continue with SRK as brand ambassador. Read more
Co-ccused Gomit Chopra and Nupur Satija in the Mumbai cruise ship drug bust case, who were allegedly found with intermediate quantities of drugs, were granted bail by the special NDPS court on Saturday.
Meanwhile, two directors of event company 'Caneplus Trading Private Limited', Sameer Sehgal and Gopalji Anand, along with two employees of the same company, Manav Singhal and Bhaskar Arora, were also granted bail by the special NDPS Court. They were booked for harbouring offenders.
In all, the special court granted bail to total seven accused in the cruise ship drug bust case today. Earlier, Aachit Kumar was granted bail.
Check out the visuals outside Mannat as Aryan Khan reached home following his release from Arthur Road Jail.
Aryan Khan has reached his residence Mannat in Bandra after being released from Arthur Road Jail.
A Special NDPS Court on Saturday granted bail to 22-year-old Aachit Kumar, a co-accused of Aryan Khan in the cruise ship drug bust case. Kumar was arrested on October 6 on charges of peddling.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had claimed that his name was taken by Aryan Khan in his now-retracted statement. The bureau also claimed that 2.6 grams of ganja was found on him while his lawyer alleges that the panchnama drawn by the agency was fabricated.
While opposing his bail earlier, the NCB had claimed that he had supplied contraband to Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant.
Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road Jail after being held for 26 days over the Mumbai cruise drug bust case.
According to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail officials, the procedure for release of Aryan Khan has been completed. He's expected to walk out of the prison shortly.
Tahini Bhushan and Jeevika Shiv write: After almost 26 days, Aryan Khan finally got bail in a case where no drugs were recovered from him, and where he was not even charged with consumption. The whole argument was that the intent to deal and consume through “conscious possession” of drugs could be attributed to him because the people around him had banned substances in their possession, and that this was to be treated as cumulative intent and not individual mens rea (intent to commit a crime).
Through this case, a spotlight has been shone on the interpretation of statutes regarding bail under the NDPS Act. Moreover, the innocent-until-proven-guilty principle is reversed when it comes to the accused under this Act, which is why the law is draconian, to say the least. The scope for abuse is codified and, hence, time and again, we see the zealous interpretation of the clauses, which leads to many suffering behind bars for years. Read more
A day after actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court, Minister Nawab Malik on Friday reiterated that the cruise drug case is a “BJP conspiracy” being executed through Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal officer Sameer Wankhede to defame Maharashtra government, its people and Bollywood.
“I have been saying that a conspiracy to defame the Maharashtra government and its people is being executed through Wankhede and BJP is behind all this,” Malik told mediapersons.
He added that the conspiracy started when Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide last year and his girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakravarty was arrested by the NCB. Read more
A day after Kranti Redkar, wife of NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking justice, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said the party still functions as per its founder Bal Thackeray’s ideals and no injustice will be done to anyone.
Raut said that nobody has made any personal attacks on Redkar. “Kranti Redkar is a Marathi woman and we respect her. There will be no injustice to her. Even if Balasaheb is not there today, Uddhav Thackeray is there. Shiv Sena is still the same as Balasaheb’s ideals,” said Raut while speaking to media persons. Read more
Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, granted bail along with Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha nearly four weeks after their arrest in an alleged drugs bust on a cruise ship, have been directed by the Bombay High Court to surrender their passports immediately and “not in any manner try to delay the trial” once it begins.
These are among the 14 conditions laid down by Justice Nitin W Sambre while granting them bail. The 5-page order was made available Friday, a day after Justice Sambre granted them bail on pleas following rejection of bail by the special court hearing the case under the NDPS Act.
Other conditions include:
> Each of the Applicants/Accused shall execute P. R. Bond of Rs 1 lakh with one or more sureties in the like amount.
> Applicants/Accused shall not indulge in any activity similar to the activities on the basis of which the said CR stands registered against them for offences under the NDPS Act.
> Applicants/Accused shall not try to establish communication with co-accused or any other person involved directly or indirectly in similar activities or make any call to any person indulging in similar activities as alleged against them, through any mode of communication. Read more
Aryan Khan will be released from Arthur Road prison by noon today along with some other prisoners, PTI quoted a jail official as saying.
Speaking to reporters, Nitin Waychal, Superintendent, Arthur Road Jail stated that they have received Aryan Khan's release order. The process of his release should be completed in 1-2 hours, he was quoted as saying by ANI.
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Friday sought a response from the Maharashtra government on a letter written by NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede alleging harassment. The letter sought a response from the government within seven days, failing which it would issue summons.
In the letter undersigned by A K Sahu, Director of NCSC, addressed to the MHA secretary, the Maharashtra chief secretary, the DGP and the Mumbai Police commissioner, a response has been sought on Wankhede’s representation.
Wankhede had written to the commission alleging harassment following “disclosures” made by NCP Minister Nawab Malik. Read more
According to news agency PTI, Shah Rukh Khan has left his Mannat bungalow in Bandra for the Arthur Road prison in central Mumbai ahead of Aryan Khan's release.
The Pune City Police received four more complaints of cheating against Kiran Gosavi, the self-styled detective cited as an “independent witness” by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case which led to the arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.
Gosavi was arrested by the police on Thursday in a 2018 cheating case lodged in Faraskhana police station in the city. A court then remanded him to police custody till November 5 for further investigation. While seeking his custody, police had told the court that Gosavi was a “notorious job racketeer” who may have cheated several unemployed young men on false assurances of providing them jobs in foreign countries. Read more
Of the 10 panch witnesses cited by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in its Cordelia ship raid case, for which Aryan Khan has been arrested, Adil Fazal Usmani has been used by NCB officials in at least five cases since 2020.
Questions have been raised regarding two others — K P Gosavi, a wanted accused at the time who is now under arrest, and Manish Bhanushali, who has links to the BJP. Witness Prabhakar Sail had accused NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of making him sign blank pages.
NCB officials said they have to fall back on known panchs as it is “practically difficult” to get persons willing to come on board during drug raids, out of fear and to avoid legal entanglements. But courts have often taken a dim view of habitual panchs, saying they are “under the thumb of police” and hence could not be considered independent witnesses. Read more
According to news agency ANI, the jail authorities opened the bail box outside Arthur Road Jail on Saturday morning at 5:30 am, where Aryan Khan's release papers had also been kept.
He is expected to walk out shortly.
The Special Enquiry Team (SET) of the NCB which is probing allegations of extortion attempt in the cruise ship drug bust case can not make any progress unless it speaks to independent witness Prabhakar Sail, a senior official said here on Friday. Deputy Director General of the NCB Gyaneshwar Singh, who is heading the five-member SET, said they have recorded the statements of five officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau and three others so far.
Sail is among those who has accused NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and other officials of an attempt to extort money after drugs were allegedly seized from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan's son, was arrested among others. Wankhede has denied all allegations.
Mumbai police, who are also probing these allegations separately, had recorded Sail's statement over the last three days.
Singh said they tried to contact Sail and also requested the Mumbai police commissioner to help as "there were reports in the media that he is in contact with police and they are examining him." "We also appealed Sail through the media to come forward to record his statement and submit the evidence as we are not able to serve him notice," the NCB official said, adding the team also contacted his relatives. (PTI)
The Bombay High Court, while granting bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha in the cruise ship drug bust case, laid down 14 conditions in its 5-page operative order passed on Friday.
The three accused are directed to be released on bail on executing personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or more sureties in the like amount. The High Court will make available the reasoned order separately in due course. Read More
Aryan Khan will spend one more night at the Arthur Road jail on Friday as his release papers did not reach the jail authorities on time, news agency PTI reported quoting a jail official. The officer further said that no special treatment would be provided to anyone.
Juhi Chawla has been accepted as surety by the court. Bail formalities are being completed. Once the bonds are signed, they'll directly go from the court to jail, said Satish Manshinde, Aryan Khan's lawyer.
Actor Juhi Chawla is before the special NDPS court as a surety to complete bail formalities for Aryan Khan.
"The accused shall not try to establish communication with (the) co-accused or any other person involved directly or indirectly in similar activities or make any international call to any person indulging in similar activities as alleged against him, through any mode of communication," the 5-page operation order said.
The Bombay High Court has issued certain bail conditions for Aryan Khan and two others granted bail in the NCB drug bust case.
-Each accused be released on bail on furnishing personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh with one or more sureties of like amount
-Shall not leave the country without prior permission
-Aryan Khan shall not make any statement regarding present proceedings before the Special Court in any form of media
-Not to leave Mumbai without permission of IO
- To attend NCB office every Friday
-Shall attend court hearings on all dates unless prevented by reasonable cause
-They shall go to NCB office as and when called
-If any of these conditions are violated, NCB is entitled to apply for cancellation of bail straightaway
-Once trial begins, they should not delay the trial
The Bombay High Court rejected plea by filed by former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, seeking quashing of summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), asking him to appear before it in connection with a money laundering and corruption case.
Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik accused NCB official Sameer Wankhede of executing a "conspiracy" to defame the state's people and government. "This is a BJP conspiracy. Yogi Maharaj wants a Film City in Noida. It's their misconception if they think 'UPwood' will come up by defaming Bollywood," he said.
Even as the Bombay High Court has granted bail to actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who was arrested in drugs-on-cruise case, his lawyers will have to wait till they get the high court's operative order for taking further steps towards securing his release from jail.
Once the high court gives the order copy on Aryan Khan's bail, his lawyers will have to take it to a special court hearing the NDPS cases along with other necessary documents, like sureties. The special court will then issue the release papers, which will have to be submitted to the jail superintendent by 6 pm to secure his release this evening. (PTI)
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana posted a throwback picture with her brother Aryan, hours after he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
Suhana Khan posted a childhood picture with her brother where the two are seen goofing around with their superstar father. "I love you," she wrote in the caption alongside the photo on Instagram. Suhana Khan, 21, restricted the comments section on the post--with only those who she is following on the app able to reply.
Several film personalities and close friends of the Khan family showered love on her post, including filmmaker Zoya Akhtra, actor Sanjay Kapoor and his daughter Shanaya Kapoor. (PTI)
Just around Gandhi Jayanti, two powerful fathers and their sons were in the news, a few hours from each other, the events almost overlapping, one happening in Mumbai and the other in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
One son is the prime accused in the brutal mauling of four farmers and a journalist to death (three others were killed in the subsequent violence) in Lakhimpur Kheri. The other is accused of involvement in consumption, sale and purchase under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. In the former, after six days of no action, the Supreme Court had to intervene for the Uttar Pradesh state machinery to find the absconding son and put him in judicial custody. In the latter, the son was taken into judicial custody in a few hours and was later shifted to Arthur jail — he got bail on Thursday, after 25 days in jail. Read the opinion here.
Nearly 25 days since he was detained by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the cruise ship drug bust case, the Bombay High Court Thursday granted bail to actor Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. The court also granted bail to co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha in their pleas against rejection of their bail applications by the special NDPS court.
A single-judge bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre, who has been hearing the bail pleas since Tuesday, held, “All three applications allowed,” adding, that the detailed reasoned order will be made available on Friday.
Aryan and two others had been in custody since October 2, when they were detained ahead of an alleged rave party on a cruise ship. Aryan and two others had approached the High Court after the special NDPS court rejected their bail pleas last Wednesday. The NDPS court had ruled that although no drugs were found on Aryan, he was aware of the fact that his friend Arbaaz Merchant was carrying them and this amounted to “conscious possession”. Read the full report here.
NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede wrote to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes Thursday alleging harassment in connection with the recent allegations made against him by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.
The NCP leader has accused Wankhede, who is in charge of the case against Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, of taking the benefit of reservation for Scheduled Castes to clear the Civil Services exam, despite being a Muslim. Malik has over the past few days released a purported birth certificate and nikahnama of Wankhede as “proof”.
The nikahnama released by Malik, of Wankhede’s marriage with his first wife, dated December 7, 2006, shows his name as Sameer Dawood Wankhede. Read the full report here.
THE MAHARASHTRA government Thursday told the Bombay High Court that it will not arrest NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede without giving him prior notice of three working days in connection with allegations of extortion and corruption levelled against him.
Wankhede had approached the High Court seeking transfer of the Mumbai Police’s probe into complaints of alleged extortion against NCB officers, including himself, to the CBI. Read the full report here.
Shah Rukh Khan with Aryan's counsel Amit Desai, Adv Satish Maneshinde and defence team after Aryan Khan's bail. (Source Satish Maneshinde)
Fans celebrate in front of Mannat, Shah Rukh Khan's residence, after the Bollywood actor's son is granted bail in the cruise ship drug bust case on Thursday.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, three weeks after he was arrested in connection with a drug bust case onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 3. The co-accused in the case– Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha– were also granted bail by a single-judge bench of Justice N W Sambre. “All three pleas are allowed. I will pass detailed orders by tomorrow evening,” Justice Sambre said. The accused, however, will not be released from jail tonight.
Here's a look at the timeline of events in the cruise ship drug bust case.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan Khan and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha in plea against rejection of their bail applications by a special NDPS court in the cruise ship drug bust case. Operative part of the order will be made available by tomorrow with reasoned order. The accused will not be released from jail tonight.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for Aryan Khan gives rejoinder to NCB response. On behalf of Aryan, Rohatgi says: "There were 1,300 people on cruise. I did not know anybody else except Arbaaz and Aachit. Their (NCB's) case is -- it is not coincidence and therefore it is conspiracy. Conspiracy is meeting of the minds. It cannot be based on coincidence. You (NCB) failed to prove meeting of minds with these eight people and therefore called them independently. There is absolutely no material for the purpose of conspiracy."
Rohatgi says Aryan's case is like default bail that if one gets bail, all others get it. "Two of them have got bail. Though my case is not on parity. Argument of conspiracy to bring in section 29 is by virtue of it not coincidence."
ASG cites purported affidavit by Prabhakar Sail and says, "There is a chance of tampering and have said it in NCB reply."
Judge peruses WhatsApp chats and certificate under section 65B under Indian evidence Act.
ASG Anil Singh says, "My contention is he (Aryan) was found in possession. He was connected with drug peddlers. It was commercial quantity. Hence we invoked 28 and 29. It was only 4 hours and they were aware of the grounds."
He further argues: "Conspiracy is difficult to prove. Only the conspirators know how they conspired. That is how I've shown WhatsApp chats. I leave it to the consciousness of the court to decide based on material on record. There is a conspiracy charge against Arbaaz as well. In matter of Munmun Dhamecha, impression was given that she was not connected. She had carried the drug and admitted that in voluntary statement. We have got the CDR report that she had connection with Ishmit Chopda with whom drug was found. Statement of the persons in her room show that she had carried the drug."
NCB counsel Anil Singh says, "If an order of remand is passed by magistrate without application of mind, then only the remand may have constitutional infirmity. The petitioner had to show it. He had to further show that magistrate had not applied his mind." Singh therefore points out two conditions based on which the remand order can be claimed to be illegal. "One is that they may argue there was no communication, but along with that they must satisfy court that order was patently illegal. They haven't challenged magistrate order," Singh said.
"Assuming there is no recovery, the person can be still held liable for offence," ASG Singh says. Refers to Showik Chakraborty judgement by Bombay HC to support his case.
He adds, "It is not that they were not aware of inclusion of Section 28 and 29 (conspiracy) being invoked. They were informed. There is a difference between wording of section 50 and 52 of CrPC. The grounds were to be informed forthwith as per CrPC. After arrest, we filed remand application. If there is valid order of remand, assuming irregularity made earlier, it gets rectified as per Madhu Limaye judgement of SC. They have not challenged order of remand. It is not even challenged in present bail application. They can't come back and say arrest is illegal."
ASG reads a Madras High Court judgment: "Bail and trial are two different stages of a matter."
Anil Singh says first remand was made four hours after the arrest. Sections 28 and 29 were added to the remand application then. Referring to the seizure panchama, Singh added, "Aryan Khan had said in panchnama that contraband found on Arbaaz was meant for smoking during cruise journey. They say they are going inside to have a blast. Bail is not a rule in NDPS case. The question of admissibility of statement under Section 67 or CrPC will apply only at the time of trial and not at the stage of bail hearing."
NCB counsel Anil Singh says, "The WhatsApp chat will show that applicant made an attempt to deal with commercial quantity, that's all. Even if he may not be found in physical possession, but accused 2 Arbaaz was. Arbaaz is Aryan's childhood friend. He had visited Aryan's house and they went to international cruise terminal together where they were apprehended. Total eight persons, out of 11, were apprehended based on the secret note. When we apprehended them, multiple drugs were found from them."
Mentioning the contention of the applicant (Aryan) that his friend was found in possession, and not him, Singh says, "My response is, though it was physically found with Arbaaz, Aryan had knowledge and he was aware of it. T?herefore there was a conscious possession. Even if a mere attempt is made, charges can be applicable."
"It was a party. My learned friend is saying why we have arrested on October 2, on Gandhi Jayanti... it is dry day we should have left them," says ASG Singh taking a dig at Aryan's counsel.
"Multiple drugs were found with all 8 people from all places on the same day. See the quantity and nature of drug," Anil Singh tells court. Justice Sambre asks, "So, you are saying it is cumulative?" In reply to this, Singh says, "When I say conspiracy, when I calculate drugs of all persons, then it comes to that." (Bar & Bench)
Putting forth NCB's arguments, ASG Singh also said: "There is a case that person might not have consumed the drug but if he's in possession of it can be booked under NDPS Act. Even concious possession. Arbaaz is his childhood friend. He had gone to the house of Aryan. Both travelled from house of Aryan in the car till the international cruise terminal where they were intercepted. They were to stay in same room had they boarded the cruise. Accused Aryan was found in conscious possession of contraband."
NCB's counsel ASG Anil Singh, opposing Aryan's bail plea, says: "Applicant Aryan Khan is not a first-hand consumer. He is regular consumer since last 2 years as per records. The records which are relied upon. One is secret note on information of drugs regarding 11-12 persons going on cruise. Out of 11, eight were apprehended. Voluntary panchanama, voluntary statement, mobile phone and WhatsApp chats on digital device, these are records even produced before special court. Aachit (accused no 17) is a drug peddler and he was apprehended later and not on cruise. My contention is that applicant having dealt with or even if attempts to deal with, then section 28 squarely applies and if he's is a part of conspiracy, then section 29 applies. So, the person who is not actually found in possession of drug but there was an attempt to deal with commercial quantity, is a part of conspiracy which relates commercial quantity."
Aryan' bail hearing resumes. Reporters have been let in. Justice Sambre is now hearing kept back matters. All counsel are in Court. (Bar & Bench)