E-Paper
NDPS court cancels Aryan Khan’s bail bond, orders release of passport
The court also ordered its registry to return Aryan Khan’s passport, deposited by him after a high court order on October 28 last year, following which he was granted bail
In a major relief to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, a special court of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS) on Wednesday cancelled the bail bond of his son Aryan from the cruise ship drug bust case, and ordered the sessions court registry to return his passport.
“As submitted on behalf of both the parties, respondents (the Narcotics Control Bureau) after investigation filed a complaint 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,” special NDPS judge VV Patil said while cancelling the bail bond and discharging his surety, actor Juhi Chawla.
The court also ordered its registry to return Aryan Khan’s passport, deposited by him after a high court order on October 28 last year, following which he was granted bail.
Also Read:Aryan Khan files plea seeking return of his passport
The order was passed after the NCB on Wednesday gave its no objection certificate on Khan’s plea filed on June 30 for the cancellation of his bail bond, discharge of the surety and return of passport.
The NCB filed a reply to the plea, stating that “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.”
Khan was given a clean chit by a special investigation team (SIT) of the NCB in the drugs case on May 27. He was among several people who were apprehended after a dramatic raid led by controversial and former zonal director Sameer Wankhede on a holiday cruise ship in Mumbai on October 2 last year.
Though the NCB could not find any narcotic substance on Aryan Khan, the agency initially claimed that the 6 grams of charas (hashish), purportedly found with his close friend Arbaaz Merchant, was meant also for consumption of the 24-year-old Khan. Besides, relying on WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan, Wankhede and his team claimed that the actor’s son was part of a larger international drugs conspiracy.
He spent seven days in NCB custody and a further 21 days in Arthur Road jail before the Bombay high court granted him bail on October 28. The high court, however, imposed 14 conditions and directed him to furnish a personal bond of ₹1 lakh, and one or more sureties in the amount. It had also asked him to surrender his passport and not leave the country without permission from the NDPS court.
