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Court allows return of Aryan Khan’s passport
On Wednesday, the NCB gave its no objection to Aryan Khan’s plea on June 30, seeking return of his passport, cancellation of his bail bond imposed by Bombay high court last year and a formal order discharging him from the drugs case.
A NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985) court here on Wednesday directed the court registry to return the passport of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, as he was cleared of all charges by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drugs case recently.
Special NDPS judge VV Patil also cancelled Aryan Khan’s bail bond and discharged surety.
“As submitted on behalf of both the parties, respondents (the NCB) after investigation into the complaint filed against 14 out of 20 persons… Admittedly no complaint was filed against six persons, including the present applicant as no material evidence surfaced during investigation,” the judge said while cancelling Aryan Khan’s bail bond and discharging his surety, actor Juhi Chawla.
The court’s order came after the NCB, on Wednesday, gave its no objection to Aryan Khan’s plea on June 30, seeking return of his passport, cancellation of his bail bond imposed by Bombay high court last year and a formal order discharging him from the case.
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“No complaint (charge-sheet) was filed against six persons (arrested in the cruise ship case), including the present applicant (Aryan) as no material evidence surfaced during the investigation which could connect the said six persons to the instant case. The applicant is not an accused in the instance case, no investigation is pending against him,” the NCB said in its response.
Aryan Khan was given a clean chit by a special investigation team (SIT) of the NCB in a drugs case on May 27. He was among 20 people who were arrested after a dramatic raid led by controversial and former zonal director Sameer Wankhede on Cordelia cruise ship in Mumbai on October 2 last year.
Also Read | NCB gives clean chit to Aryan Khan, charges 14 others in drugs case
The NCB team led by Wankhede alleged that Aryan Khan had asked his friend to bring drugs to the ship. Relying on WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan, Wankhede and his team claimed that he was part of a larger international drugs conspiracy.
Aryan Khan spent seven days in NCB custody and a further 21 days in jail before he was granted bail by Bombay high court on October 28.
The court, however, imposed 14 conditions and directed him to furnish a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and one or more sureties in the like amount. It also asked him to surrender his passport and not leave the country without permission of the NDPS court.
The NCB’s SIT, however, began a fresh probe after allegations surfaced that attempts were made to extort money from Aryan Khan.
After a seven-month investigation, the panel found several irregularities in the raids and suggested misuse of position and non-adherence to rules. It subsequently cleared Aryan and five others of all charges.
