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Aryan Khan bail hearing updates: 'NCB can't rely on WhatsApp chats', says lawyer
Eight persons, including Aryan Khan, were detained for questioning by the NCB in connection with the drug seizure on the cruise ship, according to the agency's zonal director Sameer Wankhede. All of them were arrested on Sunday.
Actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was produced before a local court in Mumbai on Monday for bail in connection with a drugs case. Khan, along with seven others, were arrested after a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on Saturday.
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The NCB brought Aryan Khan, his friends Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha to the Esplanade court on Monday afternoon after a medical checkup. A doctor at Mumbai's JJ Hospital also took their swab for RT-PCR test during the medical examination.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the NCB, sought extended custody of Khan and his two friends. “We need custody of the three accused to verify facts and their links. In a society, youngsters are worst affected by the drug menace,” he said.
Aryan Khan's lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, however, said the NCB can't simply rely on WhatsApp chats and seek extended custody. He said that there is no material on record found from Khan or people related to him. Maneshinde had earlier said that his client was invited for the cruise party. "However, he did not have a boarding pass. He didn't have any seats or cabins there. Secondly, according to the seizure, nothing has been found in his possession. He is arrested only based on chats."
An NCB team busted a rave party on the cruise ship which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea on Saturday night. The raid was carried out after a tip-off, an NCB official said.
Eight persons were detained for questioning by the NCB in connection with the drug seizure on the cruise ship, according to NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede. All of them were arrested on Sunday.
The three accused including Aryan Khan, Arbaz Seth Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha were produced before Mumbai's Esplanade Court which sent them to NCB custody till October 4.
As per the NCB, three persons have been booked under Section 8C, 20B, 27 (Punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance) and 35 (Presumption of culpable mental state) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).
Section 8C of NDPS Act refers to prohibition to produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or tranship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance while Section 20B deals with punishment for producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transportation, imports inter-State, exports inter-State or use of cannabis.
