Aryan Khan, arrested in connection with the drug bust on the Mumbai-Goa cruise ship on October 3, has moved the Bombay High Court. The plea comes hours after he and two others were denied bail by a special NDPS court, headed by Justice VV Patil, which was hearing the matter. The case is most likely to be heard by Justice Nitin Sambre on Thursday, October 21, according to LiveLaw.
LiveLaw also reported that Aryan’s counsel Amit Desai and Satish Maneshinde were present before Justice Sambre but the matter was not heard on Wednesday, as an official copy of the bail order is yet to be made available.
Aryan Khan and two others — Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha — have been booked for offences under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act. During the bail hearing on October 13, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, appearing on behalf of the National Crime Bureau (NCB), alleged that Aryan Khan is part of an international drug conspiracy. Since his arrest, the NCB has maintained that though nothing was recovered from him personally, Aryan's WhatsApp chats revealed his links with drug peddlers. However, in his bail application, Aryan dubbed the allegation “absurd”, and pointed out that no drugs were recovered from him during the cruise ship raid on October 3. The agency can continue the probe, but the allegation of links to an international racket against Aryan is "inherently absurd and false," advocate Amit Desai said.
The ASG also alleged that Aryan Khan is not a first-time consumer of drugs, and that he would tamper with evidence if let out on bail. However, Amit Desai countered, “Without affecting the ongoing investigation, bail can still be granted. As bail doesn’t take away their right to continue their investigation.”