A special NDPS court here Monday refused to pass a blanket order barring authorities from taking cognizance of an affidavit of an independent witness in the alleged drugs case involving Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan. In the affidavit filed Sunday, the witness, Prabhakar Sail, had accused Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and others of trying to extort money from Khan in the case.
The NCB filed an application and Wankhede separately filed an affidavit before Special Judge V V Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, seeking that no cognizance be taken of Sail’s affidavit. They argued that Sail’s allegations were an attempt to scuttle the investigation into the case. In its affidavit, the NCB also sought orders to ensure there was no tampering with the evidence or investigation.
Indrani Mukerjea seeks anticipatory bail in 2017 jail rioting case
In other news, former media executive Indrani Mukerjea has approached sessions court seeking anticipatory bail in a case registered against her and over 30 other inmates on charges of rioting at Byculla jail after the death of inmate Manjula Shetye in 2017.
Mukerjea’s plea filed by lawyer Sana Raees Khan stated that the chargesheet filed this year against the inmates including her is vague on the allegations against each of the accused.
Mumbai: Retired bank manager falls to online KYC fraud, loses Rs 3 lakh
A retired bank manager was duped of Rs 3 lakh by a cyber fraudster who impersonated a mobile network service company’s executive on phone and tricked him into revealing his bank details.
The 64-year-old lodged an FIR with the Dombivali police on October 24. The incident took place on the same day in the afternoon.
The man had received an SMS purported to be sent by his mobile network service company. The message said that his SIM was being blocked as he had not updated the Know Your Customer (KYC) details.
Senior Advocate and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday argued before the Bombay High Court the bail plea of Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son arrested after a seizure of drugs on a cruise ship. Rohatgi submitted that no contraband was recovered from Aryan and there was nothing in his possession, making his arrest arbitrary.
He added that Aryan’s medical examination was not conducted to show consumption of contraband by the applicant, none of the WhatsApp chats recovered by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from his phone relate to the said cruise party, and there was no material to show that Aryan had financed illicit drug trafficking. Read More
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The Bombay High Court Tuesday adjourned the bail plea of Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son arrested in the cruise drug seizure case, to Wednesday. Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing Aryan, argued that no drugs had been recovered from him, and no medical test had shown he consumed drugs.
Here are the top developments from Aryan Khan bail hearing:
? The NCB said Aryan is an influential person and is likely to tamper with evidence or flee justice if released on bail. It further added that evidence shows that Aryan was in touch with persons abroad who were a part of an international drug network.
? NCB said material collected during the investigation primarily revealed that Aryan had played a role in the illicit procurement and distribution of contraband procured from Arbaaz Merchant. Read the full report here
A special court has granted bail to Avin Sahu and Manish Rajgariya arrested in the cruise ship case. Sahu was booked for alleged consumption of ganja on the cruise while Rajgariya was held for possession of 2.4 grams of ganja. They are the first two accused to be granted bail in the case.
Scene outside Bombay High Court where Aryan Khan's bail plea hearing was held.
After senior advocate Amit Desai made arguments for another applicant for sometime and said he will take another half hour to argue, the court adjourned the hearing on bail pleas to tomorrow afternoon due to paucity of time.
Advocate Subhash Jha intervened and said that there is precedence given to present matter over the hundreds of other pending bail applications.
To which, Justice Sambre said, "I do not rise without completing my board. You've appeared before me. Your contention that the privilege is given to certain persons is not right. Whosoever comes gets a hearing. I am sensitive to your concerns hence I sit till 7. Else I could sit till 4.30 and curtail my board."
Rohatgi hands over an article in the Indian Express referring to remarks by social justice ministry on reformation in drugs consumption and says it is an important case for media because of his (Aryan) parents. It is a fit case for bail, says Rohatgi and concludes his arguments for Aryan Khan.
Rohatgi cites past judgements of the Supreme Court and HCs to support his case. He cited order of the Bombay HC from August, this year, which spoke about "opportunity of reforms" for young persons accused in NDPS cases.
'My (Aryan Khan) connection is with two people, Arbaaz and accused no 17, who was not on cruise and arrested from his house on October 6. The recovery of ganja from accused 17 is of 2.6 grams and surprisingly NCB did not seek his remand later. Accused no 17 is young college kid and also in friend circle. He was a person with whom Aryan Khan was playing online poker and there is communication about it. That was used to say that there was consumption of drugs. There is no conspiracy. There was chitchat between two friends who play poker and it is from 18 months ago, and same is not connected to this case,' senior counsel Amit Desai told HC.
"There is no case of conspiracy at all and there is no abetment and I am not in any master-servant relationship. That's the position of all the facts before court. I am not admitting any consumption or use. These are young boys. Even if you admit 'conscious possession' of 6 grams, the idea is law (NDPS Act) provides for young boys with no antecedents as victims, rather than those persons who are hardened criminals. They are entitled for rehab and there is immunity to prosecution in rehab."
He refers to a newspaper article pertaining to reforms suggested by Social Justice Ministry and says, "Approach should be not to put people in jail but put them in rehab. There is no material to show that Aryan financed the illicit trafficking of drugs," says Rohatgi.
The zonal director of NCB in his affidavit said that it (allegation) is on account of the enmity with a political personality (Nawab Malik) whose son-in-law was arrested. Today what is being said is kind of rebounding on me. Kindly keep me away from that controversy. I ( Aryan Khan) don't have any grievance: Rohatgi added.
"As of today 23 days have gone by and if my client is right, it would be fit case of bail. There is recent unsavoury controversy going on with panch-witness. I'm not concerned with the said controversy and I don't accuse any officer of NCB. That controversy did spill-over to me and rebounding me but I am not concerned and not making any allegations. Kindly keep me away from it. I have good case and I don't want so sully it due to this," argues Rohatgi.
"According to me there is no consumption or possession and even if concious possession is concerned, punishment is for one year. Aryan is not charged with section 27A of the NDPS Act as it was just one incident. However, they've charged Aryan with conspiracy under section 29. It is general, vague situation. Their charge of conspiracy is to cover section 27A and once it is invoked, the bar for granting bail under section 37 of the NDPS Act kicks in. There is no past conviction in this case."
"NCB said that there are WhatsApp chats recovered from my phone. None of those chats relate to cruise party. That is very important," Rohatgi goes on to argue. "There is no case that any of those chats had anything to do with onset of this saga. To use general phrase of conspiracy, there is no material whatsoever," he adds.
Rohatgi says Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant were called and pursuant to the advertisement, they arrived on the afternoon of October 2 at the cruise terminal in Mumbai.
'The NCB sent officers to apprehend customers. Aryan and Arbaaz were apprehended. Merchant had 6 gram of charas recovered from his shoes as per NCB and he's denying it. My client is not concerned with it, except that he is my friend. There was no medical examination of Khan to show that there was consumption.'
Rohatgi argues that the whole saga began on October 2. "The applicant is 23-year-old and was earlier in California in USA. There was a cruise from Mumbai to Goa and he was invited on the cruise as a guest by one Prateek Gaba. There was no recovery from the applicant and there wasn't anything in his possession. There was no occasion to arrest my client."
Hearing gets interrupted due to commotion outside courtroom as limited people allowed inside. Desai tells court that their juniors and papers/documents are outside the courtroom. He requests assistance from the court so that the juniors can come in and get papers. Rohatgi resumes arguments.
Hearing begins; senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi begins arguments for Aryan Khan
Senior advocate Amit Desai also arrives to appear for Aryan Khan
Senior advocate and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Satish Maneshinde arrived in court. ASG Anil Singh for NCB also present in the court. The bench is currently hearing matter at serial no 52, while Aryan's bail plea listed at serial no 57
After the post-lunch session began and a kept back matter was being heard, Justice Nitin W Sambre of the Bombay High Court rose as the Covid-19 protocol wasn't followed in cramped courtroom. The court staff and associates said that only those advocates and their juniors appearing for matters between serial no 45 to 55 should stay in court, failing which the bench will not assemble. Aryan Khan's bail plea is listed at sr no 57.
The courtroom was emptied with the help of police and the court staff, which took nearly 10-15 minutes. Media persons were allowed to enter the courtroom after the judge assured the same. Justice Sambre resumed the session and currently hearing matters kept back in pre-lunch session. The judge is likely to take up matters serially from item no 44 thereafter.
Former Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi arrives at Bombay High Court. He is appearing for Aryan Khan in his bail matter today in connection with drugs on a cruise ship case.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Tuesday filed an affidavit opposing the bail plea of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan – arrested after a seizure of drugs on a cruise ship following a raid by the the agency on October 2.
The agency said Aryan is an influential person and is likely to tamper with evidence or flee justice if released on bail. The central agency said evidence shows a part of the illicit drug trafficking and Aryan were in touch with persons abroad who were a part of an international drug network.
NCB said material collected during investigation primarily revealed that Aryan had played a role in the illicit procurement and distribution of contraband. The affidavit said he procured contraband from Arbaaz Merchant.
Aryan Khan in his written submissions has denied allegations by NCB and distanced himself from from Prabhakar Sail affidavit and political controversy.
The submissions read, "The applicant has nothing to do with allegations and counter allegations that are currently on social media as between NCB Mumbai zonal Director and certain political personalities. That the applicant does not make any allegations against any individual in the prosecution department. The applicant does not have any connection with said Mr. Sail, deponent of an affidavit dated October 23 filed in these proceedings or with his purported employer Mr Gosavi, who is also panch witness. The bail plea be decided on merits uninfluenced by aforesaid assertions of parties or counter parties as referred above."
Responsing to Nawab Malik's allegations regarding Wankhede using fake caste certificate, Wankhede has shared school leaving certificate of his father and other documents where the caste has been mentioned as falling under Scheduled Caste.
The NCB also referred to an affidavit of one of the witnesses, Prabhakar Sail and said that its investigation was being interfered with and attempts are being made to tamper with ongoing probe, with a malafide attempt to derail the same.
The NCB further stated, "Such a document (by Sail) has not been filed in any proceeding before any court despite that the matters is subjudice before Sessions Court and HC. Curiously, the same has been clandestinely distributed and widely publicised in the media. Significantly, such purported affidavit clearly names Pooja Dadlani, Manager connected to the applicant. It so appears that said lady appears to have influenced such panch witness when the investigation is ongoing, such interference at the stage of investigation is malafide attempt to ensure that same is derailed and the quest of truth is obstructed."
The affidavit filed through Superintendent said that the present bail plea is 'misconceived' and Aryan and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant have been in close collaboration with each other which is sufficient to invoke offences under Section 29 (Conspiracy) NDPS Act. "The role of one accused cannot be dissected from another," the affidavit reads.
The NCB filed an affidavit in reply opposing Aryan Khan's bail plea and said that he is an influential person and is likely to tamper with evidence or flee justice if released on bail. The Central agency said that the evidence shows part of illicit drug trafficking and Khan was in touch with persons abroad who were part of international drug network.
NCB said that material collected during investigation primarily revealed that Khan had played a role with respect to illicit procurement and distribution of contraband. The affidavit said that Khan procured contraband from Arbaaz Merchant and had played a role in so far as illicit procurement and distribution of contraband is concerned.
Aryan Khan's bail plea is listed at serial no 57 before single-judge bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre. The judge is taking up matters serially and currently hearing sr. no 37. Aryan's matter is likely to come up for hearing along with bail pleas of Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant in post-lunch session.
Kiran P Gosavi, one of the witnesses in the Cordelia cruise ship drug bust case who had gone absconding, Monday told the media that he will surrender before the police, but outside Maharashtra.
Gosavi, the alleged private investigator who accompanied NCB officials on the cruise ship raid, has prior criminal records and faces four FIRs registered against him in Maharashtra. The Pune Police recently issued a look-out circular against him. He had been missing ever since the cruise raid on October 2. Read More
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday made fresh allegations against NCB’s zonal director Sameer Wankhede, accusing him of illegal phone tapping. Malik shared a letter that he allegedly received from an unnamed NCB officer which lists 26 cases in which Sameer Wankhede and his team allegedly planted drugs on people to arrest them. Malik has requested officials to include it in the investigation being conducted against Wankhede and will be handing over the letter to the agency head.
The point is not to say that Aryan Khan is equal before the law; the point is to say, “We can make life miserable even for Aryan Khan”. The jailing of young students in CAA-related cases, the continued detention of many of the Bhima Koregaon accused, the targeting of Bollywood celebrities, or even the intensifying threats of using the Enforcement Directorate are all meant to send a signal, to create a generalised climate of fear, where everyone feels vulnerable, writes Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
On October 6, eight days after his son-in-law Sameer Khan was granted bail by a court in a drug case, NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik addressed a press conference accusing NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of foisting a false case, and acting as a “BJP pawn” to harass political opponents.
Since then, Malik has kept up his attacks on Wankhede, and in the process, been instrumental in producing evidence that has raised serious questions about due process in the NCB’s Cordelia cruise ship raid, that led to the arrest of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, among others. Read More
Actor Rajit Kapur has termed the spotlight on superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan “unfortunate”, saying that the case reiterates that people in the film industry are held under “excruciating scrutiny.” Aryan is currently lodged at the Arthur Road prison in the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast earlier this month. His bail plea will be heard by Bombay High Court on Tuesday.
Kapur, known to star in films like The Making of the Mahatma and Basu Chatterjee’s TV series Byomkesh Bakshi, said the media trial of the Khan family is “extremely unfortunate.”
Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General for India, and team Karanjawala & Co., consisting of Senior Partners Ruby Singh Ahuja and Sandeep Kapur were flown down to Bombay today to represent Aryan Khan. The team already consists of senior advocate Amit Desai, senior advocate Satish Manshinde, advocate Anandini Fernandes, and Rustom Mulla, Partner, Desai Desai Carrimjee & Mulla.
Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik has released a letter that he claims he has received from an unnamed NCB officer which lists 26 cases in which Sameer Wankhede and his team allegedly planted drugs on people to arrest them.
Malik says that he will be forwarding this letter to DG Narcotics requesting him to include this letter in the investigation being conducted on Sameer Wankhede.
Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for India, Mukul Rohatgi is likely to represent Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, in his bail plea before Bombay High Court in the cruise ship drug case on Tuesday. Aryan is seeking bail from High Court after both Magistrate and Sessions Court had rejected his bail plea.The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on October 2, took Aryan into custody after raiding a cruise ship en route to Goa from Mumbai and placed him under arrest on October 3. The NCB charged Aryan with offences under Section 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Kiran Gosavi, one of the witnesses in the Cordelia case, who had a prior criminal record and was absconding told the media that he will surrender before the police. He said he will surrender outside Maharashtra mostly in Lucknow.
Gosavi faces four FIRs registered against him in Maharashtra and the Pune Police recently issued a Look Out Circular against him. He had been missing ever since the cruise raid on October 2.
NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede reached Delhi amid allegation of payoff in the drugs case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan. "I have not been summoned. I've come here for a different purpose. Allegations against me are baseless," he told reporters.
An NDPS court said it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognizance of an affidavit of an independent witness in the drugs-on-cruise episode, in which he has levelled allegations of extortion attempt by NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede and others on actor Shah Rukh Khan, whose son Aryan is an accused in the case.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Wankhede had earlier in the day filed two separate affidavits before the special court against the allegations of extortion attempt levelled against them.
In the affidavits, the anti-drugs agency and Wankhede sought the court to pass an order saying no court should take cognizance of the affidavit prepared by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail. (PTI)
An eight-foot-long python was rescued from a complex opposite Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai’s Kalanagar on Monday.
Snake-catcher Atul Kamble said, “I went to the spot after Ramesh Patil, a security guard, called me early in the morning. The rescued python is a female. Since this is the mating season for pythons, and there is a nip in the air at night, the snake may have come to the spot to lay eggs or in search of food. The operation required three snake-catchers as the python was trapped in a congested area.”
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Deputy Director General in Narcotics Control Bureau Gyaneshwar Singh to conduct vigilance enquiry against NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede. He said that he is yet to begin the enquiry and has so far not summoned Wankhede.
NCB has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the claims made by witness Prabhakar Sail in the cruise drugs case of an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off accused Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan.
Meanwhile, a senior Mumbai police officer said that security has been provided to Sail. He has been told to approach the Sahar police station - under whose jurisdiction he resides - for rest of the complaints.
Actor Ananya Panday failed to appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau for questioning in connection with her alleged WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan, the son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, arrested in a drugs case, an NCB official said.
Panday was earlier questioned by the NCB for two days last week and was called again on Monday. She was likely to appear before the anti-drugs agency around 11 am on Monday, but did not turn up for the third round of questioning, the official said. (PTI)
A three-member team of NCB will go from Delhi to Mumbai tomorrow to probe the allegations levelled by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik against NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. The team will comprise DDG NCB Gyaneshwar Singh and two inspector level officers, said NCB Sources.
As Nawab Malik posted Sameer Wankhede's birth certificate on his twitter handle today, Wankhede responded by saying that he is “pained by slanderous attacks” of the minister.
In a statement released, Wankhede said, “I belong to a multi religious and secular family. My father is a Hindu and my mother was a Muslim. Publishing my personal documents on Twitter is defamatory and an invasion of my family privacy. Pained by slanderous attacks by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik.”
After allegations against NCB’s Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede surfaced, DDG NCB Gyaneshwar Singh has said that further course of action against Wankhede will be decided as per evidence. “Independent witnesses through affidavits circulated some facts on social media. Taking that into cognizance, DG NCB has ordered vigilance to mark the probe. Further course to be decided as per evidence,” Singh said.
NCB’s Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede has termed the claims against him as an attempt to scuttle the ongoing probe in the cruise drug case in which Aryan Khan and others have been arrested.
Appearing before Special NDPS court, NCB’s Mumbai-based Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede told the judge that he was being targeted and is ready for a probe. "My family including my sister and deceased mother are also being targeted, ' Wankhede told the court.
Wankhede filed an affidavit before the special NDPS court, saying that he is is under a 'lurking threat of arrest' due to malafide intent.
NCP minister Nawab Malik has put out a birth certificate issued by the BMC in 1979 of Sameer Wankhede. The birth certificate names Wankhede's father as one Dawood Wankhede. As per UPSC records Wankhede while apperaing for his UPSC exams had filled up the form as Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede.
NCB’s Mumbai-based Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede filed an affidavit before the special NDPS court, saying that he is is under a 'lurking threat of arrest' due to malafide intent. He has sought for court to take cognizance of pressure exerted on officers in the sub-judice matter, and requested the court to pass appropriate orders.
The deadline to apply for admissions to courses at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) has been extended to October 26. New applications can be submitted for the vacant seats online.
Of the 92,292 seats available in 417 government and 559 private ITIs in Maharashtra, so far only 81,119 admissions have been confirmed. More than 11,000 seats remain vacant and institutes have been demanding that they be allowed to conduct counselling rounds at their level to fill the vacancies. (With Alifiya Khan)
Prabhakar Sail has claimed that investigators made him sign on 10 sheets of blank paper at the office of the NCB on the day of their raid on the cruise ship.He also claimed on Sunday that he had heard K P Gosavi, the alleged private investigator who accompanied NCB officials on the raid, say that Rs 8 crore would have to be given to the NCB’s Mumbai-based Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
Gosavi, who too is an NCB witness in the case against Aryan and others, is absconding. There are several cases of cheating against him. Sail said that he feared he would be killed by the NCB. The NCB denied his allegations.
Prabhakar Sail, the witness who made allegations against Sameer Wankhede and K P Gosavi on Monday reached NCB Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office.
An independent witness in the cruise drugs seizure case on Sunday claimed that an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and some other persons demanded Rs 25 crore from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to release his son Aryan Khan in the case.
However, an NCB official denied the allegations, terming them as "completely false and malicious".
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has summoned actor Ananya Panday again on Monday for a third round of questioning in the cruise ship drugs case. Panday will appear before the NCB at 11 am today.
Mumbai city reported 400 new cases and six deaths, which took its total case count to 7,54,507 and death toll to 16,213. Mumbai division, which comprises Mumbai city and its satellite townships, reported 702 cases and nine deaths. The infection tally of this region is now 16,96,894 and fatality count 35,454.
Maharashtra on Sunday reported 1,410 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the overall infection tally to 66,02,961, while the death of 18 patients pushed the toll to 1,40,016, the state health department said. A total of 1,520 patients recuperated and got discharge during the day, which raised the state's recovery count to 64,35,439. There are 23,894 active cases in the state at present, it said.
As many as 1,30,732 people were tested on Sunday. With this, the cumulative test figure reached 6,18,93,695.