Mumbai: A special judge at sessions court on Monday set Wednesday as the day to hear a fresh bail application made by Aryan Khan, 23, son of filmstar Shah Rukh Khan, and to receive a reply from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to the plea.

The fixing of date for reply saw animated submission. Khan’s new lead and senior counsel Amit Desai with Satish Maneshinde said, “Khan is the only one on whom no drugs were found, and it is a question of his liberty.” Special prosecutors A M Chimalkar and Advait Sethna for NCB sought time of one week initially.

Desai told special judge V V Patil, when hte NCB counsel first sought a week to file reply, “We are in the court’s hands to see that justice is to be done. It is an admitted fact that nothing—no drugs—was found on Khan. The NCB was ready and had argued the bail application last Thursday and hence they would be ready here as well, and the plea may be heard on Tuesday itself.”

“Since Sunday to Friday he was in PC,” said Desai, adding that investigation of course could go on. “It doesn’t stop if bail is granted.”

Sethna said, “Normally we seek one week to file a reply. We need time to file a reply to do justice to both sides. The matter is of some importance. Need time till Thursday at least.” He added, “We leave it to the court’s conscience.” The NCB counsel said three or four of the accused have filed for bail, and the agency needs time to file a reply as simultaneously investigation is going on and a “lot of material is being gathered.”

Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant, 26, were arrested on October 3 following an October 2 raid by the NCB team led by zonal director Sameer Wankhede at an international terminal for a Mumbai-Goa cruise.

On October 8, additional chief metropolitan magistrate R M Nerlikar denied them and a co-accused Munmun Dhamecha bail on the grounds that the magistrate’s court lacks jurisdiction to decide the bail application. Ayaz Khan, counsel for co-accused Nupur Satija, said he had filed for her bail earlier and ought to be heard. Her plea is on grounds that the alleged recovery and search and seizure was “illegal.” Dhamecha, a resident of MP, served her bail application through her lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan. Merchant also filed for bail on Monday.

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A Special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court in Mumbai said that it would hear the bail plea of Aryan Khan, accused in Mumbai cruise drug bust case tomorrow. Special judge VV Patil who heard the matter on Monday, posted it for consideration on Wednesday after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) sought time to file its response.

A Mumbai Magistrate court had, on Thursday, sent Aryan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, and seven others to judicial custody for 14 days. He is currently lodged at the Arthur Road prison. On Friday, the Esplanade court rejected the bail plea of Khan, Arbaaz Seth Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.

On Monday, while senior advocate Amit Desai and advocate Satish Maneshinde, appearing for Khan, had sought an early hearing, preferably that afternoon or on Tuesday, special public prosecutor AM Chimalker representing the NCB said that investigation was ongoing and evidence was being gathered, so NCB would require a week to file its response.

Maneshinde and Desai opposed this, saying, “Bail does not stop investigation. There was no recovery (of any contraband) from him (Khan). So far as this boy is concerned, he has spent seven days in custody. There is nothing with him, no other material.”

SPP Advait Sethna, also appearing for NCB, said, “There is no urgency in this matter,” adding that normally the NCB takes a week to file a response. The court eventually said that it will hear the plea on Wednesday.

A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the case related to the seizure of drugs following a raid at a party on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2.

— Agencies

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Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan has to spend a few more days at the Arthur Road Jail as the special NDPS court has given two days’ time to the NCB to file their reply to the bail applications. The court is set to hear the bail pleas of Aryan and other accused in the cruise liner drugs haul case on Wednesday.

After Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officers sought seven days’ time from the court to file response to the bail applications, saying that they needed time as there are five bail applications, Aryan’s lawyer senior advocate Amit Desai told the special NDPS court that it was a matter of personal liberty as Aryan has been behind bars since the past seven days even though nothing was found on his person. 

“I am not even arguing for the bail, I just want it to be heard today or tomorrow.” Desai said. 

Senior advocate Satish Maneshinde, who also argued for Aryan, said, “The court has given two days’ time to NCB to file their response and the matter will be heard on Wednesday.” 

Aryan, in his bail application, said he has been falsely implicated in the case even as nothing was found from him. 

“The applicant is the son of a prominent Bollywood film actor. The applicant is innocent and has not committed any crime whatsoever. The applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case,” the bail application states.

It further added, “The prosecution is relying solely upon certain alleged WhatsApp chats to entangle him in the present proceedings without veracity of accuracy of the chats.” 

The bail plea has also stated that the WhatsApp chats have no links with the case being investigated by NCB.

Aryan’s lawyers have also requested the court to allow one member of his family inside the courtroom during the hearing to take instructions.

Apart from Aryan, the court is likely to hear bail pleas of four other accused—Arbaaz Merchant, Mohak Jaswal, Nupur Satija, and Munmun Dhamecha—on Wednesday.