Denying relief to actor Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and two others, a special court on Monday remanded the three to NCB custody, observing that ‘investigation was of prime importance’.
Although the the legal team of Aryan Khan and two other accused vehemently opposed the plea of the Narcotics Control Bureau, which conducted a search raid in a luxury cruise off the Mumbai coast and arrested eight people, the agency furnished WhatsApp chats, recovery details and additional raid information to show the involvement of the accused. LIVE Updates: Shah Rukh Khan’s Son Aryan Khan Sent to NCB Custody Till Oct 7
The heated arguments saw Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde objecting to NCB reading aloud the list of evidence seized against the accused, suggesting that the judge should peruse it silently. These were chat details recovered from Aryan Khan’s WhatsApp conversations.
Aryan Khan has been accused of consumption of drugs, and his chat history of July 21 this year has also been cited as crucial evidence by the agency.
NCB had sought custody till October 11, but was granted the custody till October 7. NCB argued that the investigation was at crucial juncture, and that they needed to confront all the co-accused. It also argued that related leads had led to bigger recoveries, and claimed that others suspected to be involved in the drug racket were not cooperating.
‘Many operations going on, fresh seizures too’
The NCB in its remand application said that 2.5 gms ecstacy, 54.3 gms MD have been seized from a suspect. It said that 2 gms charas too had been seized on the information of one of the arrested accused. “Many operations are on,” the remand copy stated.
The agency argued that the evidence uncovered so far about Aryan Khan and the co-accused “clearly shows nexus between suppliers and peddlers on a regular basis.”
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh appeared on behalf of NCB today.
“Five more connected persons are under investigation. Eight have been arrested. Suspicious transactions have been found. NCB has also apprehended one more person in supply chain of drugs and the agency wants time to unearth a proper connection.
Nexus with suppliers and peddlers has been shown through evidence including WhatsApp chats, the agency argues, also pointing to links in the form of pictures, chats pointing towards an ‘international racket’.
The NCB said that according to the evidence, the accused Aryan Khan discussed payment modes other than cash, and that he used several code names for procurement. “His custody is necessary for confrontation with the other accused,” Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the court.
He also argued that legal judgements were clear that offences under NDPS Act were non-bailable in nature. Giving details of the recent Rhea Chakraborty judgement, he said the legal point was very clear. The court later upheld the argument.
“Argument will be – these are all bailable offences. But there is judgement of Bombay High court which says all offences under NDPS are non-bailable. We have also raided a supplier. We have found commercial quantity with him. The object and purpose is to curb drug abuse in the society. We want to find out if he was taking drugs. Whether transaction of drugs for two years, or a few months. We want to know details. That is why we seek custody for more days, so we can find out. They are all connected and are in one racket. These youngsters, college students, it has become very common to take drugs. Their parents are affected, health is affected,” the NCB argued.
‘Organisers connected, not cooperating’
NCB told the court that the organisers are connected to the drug racket and that they aren’t cooperating. “Since when it is happening, how many people are involved. We need to crack the entire racket,” the ASG said.
Howver, Aryan Khan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde repeated his arguments from Sunday, claiming that his client did not buy the ticket to the party. “I landed there with a friend of mine. As both of us were checking in, I didn’t have pass. I later came to know, the best suite was allotted to me because of my film connection. I didn’t pay a single penny. My friends were there. They had nothing on them. I was searched. Nothing in my bag or possession,” Maneshinde argued on behalf of Aryan.
Aryan’s lawyer objects to NCB reading aloud evidence against Aryan
Aryan Khan’s lawyer also objected after the NCB lawyer started reading aloud the chat details recovered from Aryan Khan’s Whatsapp. He requested that the judge should silently peruse the chat details and that the NCB lawyer shouldn’t read out to them in the open court.
“These chats are about monetary aspects, group chats discussing buying of weed, charas. Code words used for drugs. Payment other than cash. Chats about bulk purchase of certain drugs. Chats with unknown numbers,” the NCB lawyer said.
As the lawyer tried to continue, Maneshinde sprang up from the chair and shouted, “No need to read aloud. Judge can peruse.
To this, the NCB replied, “He is a person who is in regular contact and touch with someone who is purchasing drugs. These chats are not irrelevant. Somebody isn’t totally innocent. What is there to show he was invited? These are all to be considered during bail. You had gone to the cruise. There was contraband. Recovery or possession, even if it is not there, yet an offense is made out. You went with a group of persons that has been found with the drug. You can’t say, am not concerned,” ASG Anil Singh said.
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