Aryan Khan, the son of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is set to walk out of a Mumbai jail after nearly four weeks. The 23-year-old was granted bail on Thursday by the Bombay High Court in the drugs-on-cruise case but spent another night in jail as his bail papers missed the 5:30 pm deadline on Friday after an anxious wait that went down to seconds.
Earlier this morning, Arthur Road jail officials were seen opening the bail box, setting off the process for the star son's release.
"We've received Aryan's release orders other release orders being processed too," said a jail official.
A huge contingent of media personnel has been stationed outside the jail since early morning. There is also a heavy police presence.
This morning, Shah Rukh Khan was seen leaving his Mannat home to reach the Arthur Road Jail.
On Friday, Aryan Khan's lawyers rushed to make it to the Arthur Road jail and deposit the documents in the "bail box" that is opened four times in a day - at 5.30 am, 10.30 am, 3.30 pm and 5.30 pm. They missed the time window narrowly.
Shah Rukh on his way to Arthur Road Jail
Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India, fought for Aryan Khan's bail in the High Court for three days.
Actor Juhi Chawla, Shah Rukh Khan's co-star in the early days of his film career, signed the Rs 1 lakh bail bond for Aryan Khan.
That step was necessary for the Mumbai sessions court to sign the release papers that were to be sent directly to the prison.
Aryan Khan has been in jail for nearly a month after his arrest following a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raid on a cruise ship party on October 2. He was "Accused Number 1" in the case in which a total of 20 were arrested.
The anti-drugs agency found no drugs on him, but claimed in courts that his WhatsApp chats proved his involvement in "illicit drug deals" and links with a foreign drugs cartel.
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