A special Mumbai court today rejected the bail application filed by Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.
Aryan Khan was arrested hours after Narcotics Control Bureau officers raided a Mumbai cruise ship party in disguise on October 2. Seven others, including his friend Arbaaz Merchant, were arrested on October 3.
He has been in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail since October 8 and was briefly in the custody of the NCB before that.
The anti-drugs agency has claimed in court that Aryan Khan is a regular consumer of drugs, adding that "this is the land of Mahatma Gandhi... this (drug) abuse is affecting young boys".
Here are the LIVE updates Aryan Khan's Bail Hearing:
Stunning abdication of law.. by those charged with upholding the rule of law!#AryanKhanBail #AryanKhan #AryankhanDrugsCase
- Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) October 20, 2021
Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was denied bail by a special court in Mumbai today. The court said six grams of charas was found hidden in his friend Arbaaz Merchant's shoe, and it seemed Aryan Khan knew about it.
The special NDPS Act court in its 21-page order noted that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan prima facie revealed that he was "dealing in illicit drug activities on a regular basis" and therefore it cannot be said that he was not likely to commit a similar offence if released on bail.
It also held that Aryan knew that his friend and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant was in possession of drugs, and hence there was "conscious possession" even though the NCB had not found any drugs on Aryan himself.
"Considering the prima facie involvement of the applicants/accused No 1 to 3 (Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha) in commission of grave and serious offence, this is not a fit case for granting bail," the judge said in the order.
A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday refused to grant bail to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in connection with the case of seizure of banned drugs on board a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
While denying him bail, a special court in Mumbai observed that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan had reference of 'bulk quantity' and 'hard drug'.
Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 and are presently in judicial custody.
Aryan Khan has filed an application in the Bombay High Court against the Special NDPS Court order on his bail rejection.
After a court in Mumbai rejected his bail application, Aryan Khan will now have to approach the Bombay High Court.
Aryan Khan had in his bail plea said the NCB''s contention that he was involved in conspiracy and illicit drug trafficking was absurd, and pointed out that there was no recovery of drugs made from him.
"We will move the High Court for relief": Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh, Munmun Dhamecha's lawyer, to NDTV's Saurabh Gupta pic.twitter.com/0Jm6oR5dxv
- NDTV (@ndtv) October 20, 2021
Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan will continue to stay at the Arthur road jail.
- Accused will have to go to high court
- No bail for Aryan Khan
- No bail for Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha
Aryan Khan's bail plea has been rejected.
Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar today said the Hindi film industry is under the scanner because of its "high profile" nature and it is the "price" it has to pay.
The veteran writer's statement comes at a time when there is a renewed attention on Bollywood and its celebrity culture after actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was arrested in connection with a case of alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship.
When asked if he feels that Bollywood is being routinely targeted with raids, Mr Akhtar said, "This is the price the film industry has to pay for being high profile. When you're high profile, people have fun pulling you down, throwing muck at you. If you're a nobody, then who has the time to throw stones at you?"
Mr Akhtar was speaking at the launch of the book "Changemakers", written by authors Almas Virani and Sweta Samota.
Pune City Police on Monday arrested accused Kiran Gosavi's assistant Sherbano Qureshi in connection with a job fraud case.
Kiran Gosavi had made headlines after he was seen accosting Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan at Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) office in a viral selfie.
Earlier, on October 14, City police commissioner Amitabh Gupta said that the lookout notice was issued for Kiran Gosavi on Wednesday which bars him from going outside the country.
Mr Gosavi was the witness in the NCB raid on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Tuesday called the killing of a labourer at the Singhu border a possible conspiracy to defame the farmers' agitation, citing a purported photograph of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with a Nihang "leader".
Former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar also joined the controversy triggered by the appearance of the photograph on social media, alleging that Central agencies could be involved in last week's murder at a farmers' protest site near the Delhi-Haryana border.
The group photo includes Mr Tomar and a man in blue robes of the Sikh order of the Nihangs. The Union minister has in the past met farmer protest leaders to negotiate a solution to the deadlock over agri-marketing laws.