Mumbai: A special NDPS court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, noting there is material in the form of incriminating WhatsApp chats that shows his nexus with suppliers and peddlers.

The court also rejected the bail application of two others — Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha— who were arrested with Khan in the case of seizure of drugs from a cruise liner and said charges of conspiracy are applicable as it transpires all the accused are connected in the same thread.

Khan and Dhamecha have moved the Bombay high court in appeal and will mention it on Thursday. Khan has said in the HC plea that the drug trafficking charge is false and has denied illicit trafficking and conspiracy charges.

On Khan, the NDPS court said perusal of WhatsApp chats shows reference to bulk quantity and hard drugs: “Prima facie material showing that Khan was in contact with persons dealing in prohibited narcotic substances as alleged by prosecution.” The court said though no contraband was recovered from Khan, he had knowledge of charas recovered from his friend Merchant’s shoes. 

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Mumbai: The NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) had claimed to have recovered 6 gms of charas from Arbaaz Merchant’s shoes. The NDPS court said Aryan Khan “was having knowledge and thus it can be said that it was in ‘conscious possession’ of both the accused.”

The court said record shows Khan and Merchant admitted to being friends for long, travelled together to the party and were apprehended together. It added, “In their voluntary statements, both disclosed they were possessing said substance for their consumption and for enjoyment. Moreover, WhatsApp chats prima facie reveal (Khan) is dealing in illicit drug activities of narcotic substances on a regular basis.” The court noted it hence cannot be said he is not likely to commit a similar offence while on bail.

Judge V V Patil’s court, in its 21-page order rejecting the bail plea of the trio, said, “Prima facie involvement of the three accused in commission of grave and serious offences. This is not a fit case for granting bail.” The court pronounced its verdict at 3:00 pm. The three accused were not in court. Khan and Merchant are in Arthur Road jail, while Dhameja is at Byculla women’s jail, where they will remain now pending a hearing and decision by HC.

The court noted ASG Anil Singh, for NCB, had shown it WhatsApp chats of Khan with foreign national and unknown persons dealing in drugs, and their perusal revealed “references of bulk quantity and hard drugs”. The court said it formed prima facie material to show he was in contact with drug dealers.

The court noted that “during interrogation (Khan) did not disclose details of the persons which” are in his exclusive knowledge and as argued by Singh, NCB said it is tracing the criminal antecedents of such persons and if Khan is released, “there are every chances of tampering with evidence.” “The court found NCB produced evidence to show prima facie that “accused are part of larger network”.

It rejected Merchant’s lawyer Taraq Sayed questioning the reliance on WhatsApp chats when NCB produced no phone seizure reports. The court said NCB papers show Khan and Merchant “voluntarily surrendered their mobiles.” It said “it is not possible to record satisfaction at this stage that applicants have not committed any offence under NDPS Act” and added, “Considering evidence on record it cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds” to believe that the trio is not guilty.”

Interestingly, while Khan’s lawyer cited the HC order granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty to establish that charges of criminal conspiracy are not applicable in this case, the prosecution cited the HC order in her brother Showik’s case to support its case of conspiracy. In Showik’s case, HC had said he appeared to be an important link in the chain of drug dealers. He had monetary transactions with dealers, HC had said, and observed it was not desirable to release him on bail at that stage. The HC, while granting Rhea bail, had said when there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty of such offence, s/he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.

The sessions court said there is a chance of Khan tampering with evidence. It also accepted Singh’s contention that rigours of the anti-bail Section 37 (used usually when commercial quantities are seized) of NDPS Act would apply since commercial quantity was recovered from another co-accused.

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The special NDPS court on Wednesday rejected the bail applications of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha. The special court, in its order, has said that prima facie there is material that the accused are part of a larger network and Aryan deals with illicit drug activities on a regular basis. The special NDPS court in its detailed order also made some observations with regard to the WhatsApp chats of Aryan submitted by the NCB.

The lawyers of Aryan and Dhamecha have now moved the High Court seeking bail. The court said, "WhatsApp chats brought before the court show that Aryan has been dealing with illicit drug activities of narcotics substances on a regular basis. Therefore it can't be said that Aryan is not likely to commit a similar offence while on bail."

The court has also said that there is incriminating material placed on record in the form of WhatsApp chats, which show Aryan's nexus with suppliers and peddlers. During the course of arguments, WhatsApp chats were shown to the court. These were chats of applicant/accused no.1 (Aryan Khan) about drugs with unknown persons. There is also the reference of bulk quantity and hard drug in the chats. There is also prima facie material showing applicant/accused no 1 was in contact with persons dealing in prohibited narcotic substances as alleged by the prosecution.

According to the court order, NCB had received specific information that a rave party had been organised on a cruise and the accused would arrive with the contraband and in pursuance of this information, a raid was conducted. During the interception the accused disclosed the name of those who supplied the contraband to them. "Thus all these facts prima facie show that the accused acted in conspiracy with each other," the court observed. The court also observed that during interrogation Aryan did not disclose names of foreign nationals and other drug dealers he was in touch with.

"It transpires that all the accused are connected in the same thread. The aspect of proving the conspiracy which deals with depth is required to be considered only at the time of the trial," the court further added while rejecting the bail pleas. The court in its order, said that Section 29 of the NDPS Act is applicable in this case, as the prosecution has alleged there is conspiracy and abetment.

Senior advocate Taraq Sayed who appeared for Arbaaz argued before the court that there is no mention of seizure of their mobiles in the panchnama so one cannot rely on the chats NCB is talking about. Aryan Khan's lawyer Amit Desai made similar arguments. However, the court in its order, said that the documents produced on record by the NCB show that both accused have voluntarily surrendered their mobile phones during interrogation. "Hence submission made by Arbaaz's lawyer that the seizure of the mobile phone was not shown in the panchnama, falls to the ground," the court said.

Munmun Dhamecha's lawyer, Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, argued that she is not connected to Aryan and Arbaaz and has been wrongly framed in the case. "As Munmun was arrested with contraband, her culpable mental state is clear and evident. She was found in possession of contraband in consequence of secret information received by NCB. Hence Munmun is also a part of the network and her case can't be considered in isolation," the court added on why Dhamecha's bail application was also rejected. While rejecting the bail of all three accused the court said, "Considering the prima facie involvement of Aryan, Arbaz and Munmun in commission of a grave and serious offence, this is not a fit case for bail."

The NCB, through the additional solicitor general, has argued that Aryan Khan had knowledge of charas concealed by Arbaaz in his shoes. "The papers show that though nothing was found in Aryan's possession, 6 gms charas was found with Arbaaz, concealed in his shoes. Aryan and Arbaaz have been friends for long. They travelled together and were apprehended together. Further, both of them in their voluntary statements, disclosed that they were possessing the said substance for their consumption and enjoyment," the court said.

"Thus all these things show that Aryan had knowledge of contraband concealed by Arbaaz in his shoes," the court added. The team of Amit Desai and Satish Maneshinde representing Aryan Khan have moved to the Bombay High Court challenging the order of the special NDPS court. Dhamecha's lawyer Deshmukh has also moved the High Court.

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has never accused Arbaaz Merchant of having consumed, peddled or sold charas to any co-accused, including to Aryan Khan, but with “malafide intent’’ it has invoked the conspiracy section under NDPS Act “to rope him in offences he has no connection with’’, his bail plea argued by advocate Taraq Sayed stressed. “Merchant is innocent and has been falsely framed in the matter,’’ he said.

Merchant, 26, who has no criminal antecedents, was arrested by the NCB along with Khan on October 3 following a raid on an international terminal from where a Mumbai-Goa cruise ship was to depart.

“There is no evidence interse between any of the accused persons as they were all admittedly traveling individually and not collectively,’’ said his bail plea. The NCB case is that it recovered 6 gram of charas from Merchant when its officers had seen him and Khan at the terminal.

His lawyer argued that even if the “alleged recovery’’ is considered by court as “an independent recovery’’ of small quantity, the punishment for which is maximum six months or fine, and section 64A of NDPS Act allows for immunity from prosecution too and hence bail ought to be granted. “There is absolutely no connection’’ between him and the organisers of the cruise or between him and other co-accused, he argued.

The NCB opposed his bail plea, and the special NDPS court has reserved it for orders.

Mumbai: It is “inherently absurd and false” for NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) to dump an offence of ‘illicit drug trafficking’ on Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, as a reason to deny him bail, his lead counsel Amit Desai said on Wednesday, adding the agency, aware of the larger role it has, “should be cautious in bandying about the serious legal term of ‘illicit trafficking’ casually to oppose a bail plea”.

But the NCB claimed there was sufficient material to show Aryan was an active part of illicit drug chain, reports Swati Deshpande.

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Mumbai: Aryan Khan’s lead counsel Amit Desai said on Wednesday that Section 27A is the only offence for illicit trafficking under the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), and NCB rightly never invoked it against Aryan as it has no case. Aryan was arrested only for alleged consumption of small quantities, with no recovery of drugs or money from him and hence no case of use, sale or purchase of any drugs, and he was not arrested even for abetment or conspiracy, Desai said. He added that even consumption there is no proof of, as it was his friend Arbaaz Merchant who in the NCB panchanama of October 2 is recorded as speaking of having consumed charas.

Opposing the bail pleas of Khan, Arbaaz and Munmun Dhamecha, the NCB said, “There is sufficient material in the form of WhatsApp chats, pictures, etc to show Aryan was an active part of illicit drug chain with other coaccused, hence abetment and conspiracy apply and so do the rigours of not granting bail under NDPS Act.”

ASG Anil Singh, with Advait Sethna, special public prosecutor for the agency, said, “NCB has material to show Khan was in touch with some persons abroad who appear to be a part of an international drug network for illicit procurement of drugs, and investigation is on to find the person.”

Aryan ought to be granted bail as maximum punishment attracted is a year’s imprisonment, said Desai, who appeared with Satish Maneshinde at the physical hearing before the special NDPS judge at sessions court, V V Patil. He pointed how NDPS Act was amended with reformative steps to reduce punishment for consumption and said “they are not peddlers, racketeers or drug traffickers”.

“India was a signatory last December to the UN move to remove cannabis from the list banning research into its medical use. In many countries these substances are legal. Let us not penalise the youngsters. Let us not make it worse for them. They have suffered enough. They have been in custody since October 3. They have learnt their lesson. Let us not keep them behind bars and deny them bail,” said Desai.

The heart of the NCB case is that all accused are “inextricably connected” with each other in a conspiracy and that Khan used to purchase charas from Merchant. Desai said NCB has made the allegation of an international drug chain, but where is the question of any connection of Aryan with the other accused or of a conspiracy, he asked NCB uses “a very frightening term” like illicit trafficking and “just dumps it on Aryan Khan,” said Desai. Advocate Taraq Sayed for Merchant argued that even if NCB is right in saying 6 gram charas was recovered from him, it is a small quantity.

Mumbai: A magistrate court on Friday rejected Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan’s plea for bail on grounds of maintainability and jurisdiction of court. It rejected bail pleas of his friend Arbaaz Merchant, 26, and Munmun Dhamecha, 28, as well.

The court only pronounced the operative part of the order, and reasons will follow later as it was the end of the court day and dictation would take long. Khan’s counsel Satish Maneshinde said in court that it was fine if the operative part was delivered because if necessary, they would ready themselves to approach sessions court. Later, he declined to comment. But with a weekend ahead, it will be two nights in jail before a fresh bail plea gets taken up for hearing in sessions court.

All three were arrested on October 3 following a raid by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on a cruise ship which led to seizure of drugs. Maneshinde said with “not even an ounce” of contraband found on him, he ought not to be denied bail and with alleged chats on his phone leading up to no recovery, he cannot be kept in custody for a minute.

The applications are “not maintainable” before his court, said additional chief metropolitan magistrate R M Nerlikar, after hearing and accepting preliminary objections raised by NCB special counsel, ASG Anil Singh, and agency’s prosecutor Advait Sethna.

Singh cited judgments, including the one by Bombay HC granting bail to actor Rhea Chakraborty, where it was held all NDPS offences are non-bailable and hence the case is exclusively triable by the special court, which is at the sessions court, rendering the magistrate sans jurisdiction to consider bail.

The sessions court has jurisdiction to hear and grant regular bail and by that virtue also consider a plea for interim bail, while the magistrate can only grant remand, said Singh, stressing he was not trampling on anyone’s right to seek bail. “Am not saying they cannot seek it elsewhere. It is not maintainable here (Esplanade court),” he said, adding that on October 7 the court had already forwarded the case to the special sessions court.

The court first heard Maneshinde and advocates Taraq Sayed for Merchant and Ali Kaashif Khan for Dhamecha. They said not only is the magistrate empowered to grant bail, on merits too they are entitled as NCB has shown no material. Sayed said the NCB case, if accepted, merely says 6 gm charas was found on him, which attracts at best a maximum of 6 months’ in jail.

Singh said the NCB case against 17 persons so far is one of criminal conspiracy where witness and evidence will be common. There cannot be two trials and granting bail to some would hamper probe as influential accused can tamper with evidence and witnesses. Lawyers for the trio denied being part of any criminal conspiracy. Maneshinde said merely because section 27 A (trafficking) under NDPS Act is invoked, it cannot be foisted on Khan.

Maneshinde said Khan “belongs to a respectable family with roots in society.” “Merely because he is from an influential family, it cannot be a ground to suggest he may tamper with a probe or to deny him bail.” He cited a judgment which essentially says the effect of an unhealthy practice of denying or opposing bail is that a maliciously prosecuted person remains in jail.

“They (NCB) say they have chats, but for bail they can be disregarded,” said Maneshinde. The ASG said, “chats are relevant... the chat refers to 'bulk' quantities.” He said suppliers were arrested and now a Nigerian too with commercial quantities. The court remanded the foreign national Chinedu Igwe to NCB custody till October 11.

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The additional chief metropolitan magistrate on Friday rejected the bail plea of Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, saying that the applications were “not maintainable”. The trio were arrested following a raid on a cruise liner on Sunday.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), opposed the bail pleas, stating that the matter should be heard by a special NDPS court, and not a magistrate court. Responding, Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said there are various offences that can be tried at special court, but one can approach the magistrate court.

On Thursday, Maneshinde had said that nothing was found on Aryan and the NCB sought his custody on the basis of WhatsApp chats which were about football. In court on Friday, the ASG said those chats were about procuring drugs in “bulk, not footballs”.

“We have been saying from Day 1 that there are several chats which are shocking in nature and various code words have been used. At this stage, we cannot reveal any of it. We are examining why he wanted drugs in bulk,” an NCB officer told mid-day. The officer added that the NCB suspect football is a code word for drugs.

The NCB also argued that Aryan is an influential person, and if granted bail, he may tamper with the evidence. To which, Maneshinde responded that just because he belongs to an affluent family, it doesn’t mean he will tamper with the evidence.

Advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh that the NCB has not been able to show the connection between his client, Munmun, and Aryan and Arbaaz. 

“Two more people, Somaiya and Baldev, were there on the floor where drugs were seized. Why were they not arrested?” asked Khan.

Advocate Taraq Sayed for Arbaaz Merchant said that he has no connection with the “co-accused. Allegedly I was found with 6 grams of charas. The prosecution is not providing the CCTV camera footage [of the seizure], saying that it will prejudice the ongoing probe.”

The court sent all three accused to judicial custody. They have been shifted to Arthur Road jail where they are in quarantine. “There is a strict rule of the high court not to allow any accused without a negative a COVID-19 RT-PCR test. Today, they were brought in with negative test reports, and as per the protocols, they have been kept in a quarantine centre inside the prison for a week, “ said Nitin Vaichan, superintendent, Arthur Road jail.

Meanwhile, the trio’s lawyers said they will file their bail pleas before the special NDPS court on Saturday.

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Officers escort Aryan Khan out of Killa court on Thursday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The Killa court on Thursday refused the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) request for further custody of Aryan Khan and other accused in the cruise liner drug-bust case, and sent them to judicial remand. Enough time was given for interrogation, it stated, adding that sending them to further remand of the NCB will violate their fundamental rights. The NCB had sought the custody of all the eight accused, held from the cruise on Sunday, till October 11.

Ideally, the accused should be taken to the prison when in judicial custody. However, Aryan's lawyer Satish Maneshinde urged the court to allow them to stay in the NCB's custody. He also requested for their judicial remand under NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.

Wankhede also requested to keep them in the NCB's custody, stating that the prison department would not admit the accused without Covid-19 test reports. The court allowed the appeals.

Seeking their remand, the NCB, through Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, told the court it has arrested another accused, Aachit Kumar. “He is a supplier to Arbaaz Merchant and Aryan Khan. His name was revealed by Aryan, and hence we need further custody for their confrontation.”

In its remand application, the anti-drug police stated that a confrontation of all accused with party organisers has become imperative for the probe. “New factual details have surfaced over the past two days and we need some more time,” read its application.

Defending his client, Maneshinde told the court that Aryan was a guest at the cruise party and was invited by a friend, Pratik Gaba. He said that he has chats where there is no discussion about a rave party. 

Aryan was probably invited to add more glamour to the party, said Maneshinde, and claimed that Gaba invited Merchant since he is friends with Aryan. Both friends went to the cruise party together, but Aryan has nothing to do with the drugs found on Merchant. “We cannot be made hostage, so that they arrest others involved in the case,” he told the court. Advocate Taraq Sayed, Merchant’s counsel, said the NCB can't be given custody just for confrontation. “Confrontation can be done anytime. How long does it take?”

Advocate Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, who appeared for model Munmun Dhamecha, said she doesn't know Aryan and Merchant, and that the NCB seized drugs from the room, not from her possession. 

“There is absolutely nothing about Munmun, so why are they seeking her custody?” Khan asked in the court. “If this is the case, then around 1,300 people partying on the cruise should have been arrested.” 

The court then observed, “Claiming custody is their [NCB] right, but simply remanding the accused in custody would violate their fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Enough time was given to NCB for the interrogation.”

Maneshinde and others then filed an interim bail application, which the NCB opposed, stating that it is not maintainable as it is going to file a stay. Initially, the court agreed to hear the interim bail plea on Thursday itself, but later adjourned the matter to till Friday [today]. The NCB also said it has arrested a Nigerian national, a foreign link in the case, and he will be produced in court on Friday.

Mumbai: Denying any recovery of contraband from him, Arbaaz Merchant, 26, arrested on Sunday and currently in Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody, on Wednesday sought orders from Esplanade court to call for and preserve the CCTV footage from 11.30 am to 8.30 pm on October 2 at the International Terminal, Green Gate, Mumbai Port Trust. His contention is that the “footage will show no contraband was recovered from” his possession and was “planted by the NCB.”

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate R M Nerlikar, after hearing his counsel Taraq Sayed, issued notice to NCB and sought its response on Thursday, to state why orders as sought ought not to be passed. Sameer Wankhede, NCB’s zonal director, said, “We will give our reply to court.”

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team probing last weekend’s seizure of drugs from a cruise liner on Tuesday arrested six more people, including four from Delhi-based event management company Namas’cray Experience that organised the two-day voyage. The total number of arrests in the case has now gone up to 16, reports S Ahmed Ali.

On Saturday, NCB had raided the ship and arrested eight people, including Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant.

NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede said, “The organisers have been arrested for their role in harbouring the drug syndicate. We have got electronic evidence, witnesses statements and corroborating evidence that the patrons had a drug party, the organisers had knowledge and it was the duty of the organisers to inform us but they didn’t and next day, the captain of the ship alerted us about the brawl between two groups after consuming drugs and that is why we have invoked the harbouring charges on the organisers. It was their duty to carry a check of drugs on board.”

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Mumbai: The total number of arrests in the cruise liner drugs seizure case went up to 16 as six more people, including four from the Delhi-based event management company Namas’cray Experience Private Limited, which had organised the two-day voyage, were arrested by the NCB on Tuesday.

Namas’cray is a Delhi-based firm registered as Caneplus Trading Private Limited. The firm was established on 30 October 2020. The company was tasked with the management of the event on board Cordelia Cruises’ Empress ship.

The NCB on Tuesday produced four accused (including two who were arrested on Monday) — Abdul Kedar Shaikh, Shreyas Nair, Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu — before the 8th metropolitan magistrate and sought their custody. All the four were remanded to NCB custody till October 11. The four event organisers — Gopal Jee Anand, Samir Sehgal, Manav Singhal and Bhaskar Arora — will be produced before court on Wednesday. Sehgal and Anand are additional directors of Namas’cray. All the eight held earlier have been remanded to NCB custody till October 7.

The NCB on Tuesday added the stringent sections of 27 (A) for financing, 22 (b) (contravention involving quantity lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity) and 22 (c) (where contravention involves commercial quantity) against Shaikh. The section pertaining to financing has also been invoked against Shreyas Nair.

While seeking custody of Shaikh, NCB public prosecutor Advait Sethna requested the court that they want minimum exposure of him as he is a key accused and investigations are on. Shaikh, whose face was covered with burkha, was whisked away by NCB officials. Shaikh’s lawyer later said his client wants to retract his statement as it was taken under duress. The NCB said it had recovered 2.5 grams of Ecstasy tablets and 54.3 grams of MD from Shaikh.

“We are at the remand stage, we need to investigate, and there are also other aspects as it has come to light that the cruise did not have permission from the Directorate General of Shipping. Besides, we have found several irregularities which need to be investigated,” Chetna said. The NCB remand application stated that one of the arrested accused Mohak Jaswal during interrogation said the drugs were supplied to him by Shaikh.

The NCB arrested Nair after arrested accused Ismeet Singh Chadha said the drugs he brought were from Nair. Nair and Shaikh are accused of being suppliers and two others — Manish Rajgaria and Sahu — are guests who consumed drugs and had a brawl on board. Rajgaria and Sahu both admitted to have consumed ganja on board the ship, NCB claimed.

NCB’s zonal director Sameer-Wankhede said, “Some of the accused hid drugs under shoe soles, some under sanitary napkins and eye lenses and medicine boxes.” 

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court on Monday extended the custody of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and other accused found to be part of the drug party busted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday, till October 7, after the agency claimed that they have got some incriminating evidence which points at an international link. The agency had initially asked for two days' custody of the accused, but during the remand argument on Monday, they sought an extension saying they had seized more drugs.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Anil Singh, who represented the NCB, said some WhatsApp chats recovered from Aryan point at discussions on mode of payments regarding procurement and he also used some code words, which needed to be verified.

The agency’s remand application also claims that they have found some evidence from him in the form of photographs, which talks about distribution after procuring drugs in bulk. The NCB further claimed that certain chats indicate that there might be international links to the case. “There are multiple characters in the case, who are yet to be identified,” Singh told the court.

Singh further said that just because a small quantity of drugs was found from Arbaz Merchant, he was not entitled to bail. “We need to find the supplier and details of finances for which custody is needed,” Singh told the court.

Advocate Satish Maneshinde, who appeared for Aryan, argued that he was invited as a guest at the party and nothing was recovered from him. “His bag was searched but nothing was found. Later they took his phone and based on some chats he was arrested.” Shinde said.

Senior lawyer Taraq Sayed, who appeared for Merchant, said that the remand application had been manipulated and the agency made Aryan a scapegoat. “The quantity of drugs is not mentioned in the remand application,” he said.

He added, “What needs to be seen is the material available with NCB as it should not seek custody based on the chats that happened years ago. The remand is misleading. They have recovered only 5 gms of charas from each of the first three accused but they added MDMA and Cocaine later. The remand application is giving them room to manipulate things. They did not show all this in the panchnama presented on Sunday.”

Adding further, he said, “Aryan has just been made a scapegoat as nothing was found on him. The agency is just claiming that he was going to consume drugs. They are not seasoned criminals.” 

The NCB further told the court that the chats they have recovered were a mix of old and new ones, and hence they needed to be investigated. NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede, who was also present during the arguments, told the court that the organisers of the party were not reachable and they wanted to check the connection between them and the consumers.

Responding to the court’s query about the amounts of drugs seized from each of the accused, the NCB said nothing was seized from Aryan, 6 gms of Charas was seized from Merchant, 5 gms of Charas from Munmun Dhamecha, 5 gms of Mephedrone and 10 gms of Cocaine from Vikrant Chhokar, 14 MDMA pills from Ishmeet Singh and four MDMA pills from Gomit Chopra. The agency further said that nothing was found from Mohak Jaiswal but he provided four MDMA pills to another accused Nupur Sateja.

Meanwhile, the NCB carried out raids at multiple locations and arrested the ninth accused, Shreyas Nair, who is an event organiser. “He is a group supplier of drugs. We have found some links of celebrities who contacted him. He was also providing drugs to the arrested accused,” said a senior NCB officer.

Late in the evening, NCB arrested one more supplier from Jogeshwari and seized MDMA worth Rs 5 lakh from him.

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in its remand application seeking custody of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s 23-year-old son Aryan Khan and two others, said on Monday it has found links in the form of pictures, chats, etc, on Aryan’s mobile phone pointing to an international drug trafficking chain. Officials claimed in the remand plea they have found “shocking incriminating material” on Khan’s phone.

The NCB had arrested eight persons following a raid carried out on a cruise liner on Saturday night. The Esplanade court, after a three-hour hearing, extended the remand of Aryan and the two others in NCB custody till October 7. In a separate order, it also granted NCB custody of the five other arrested accused till October 7.

The NCB said that in its scrutiny of Aryan’s mobile phone, “there are several suspected characters, whose identification is still to be established by accused Aryan Khan”. The application, parts of which were read out by additional S-G Anil Singh who appeared for NCB, said, “Prima facie, investigation conducted reveals that there is incriminating material in the form of WhatsApp chat etc clearly showing the nexus of these respondents with suppliers and drug peddlers on a regular basis.”

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The NCB raided some premises in Juhu and Goregaon on Monday and arrested two people — one identified as Shreyas Nair, from whom NCB claimed to have seized an intermediate quantity of Ecstasy pills, and the other suspected to be the main supplier, officials said. NCB also searched Cordelia on her return and detained three passengers, one of whom was carrying marijuana, officials claimed. It also emerged that Cordelia did not have DG-Shipping’s OK to operate on the Indian coast.

Mumbai: In an order rejecting the bail plea of actor Ajaz Khan in a drugs case, the special NDPS court observed that as a seller, he was dangerous to society and exploiting boys and girls by giving them drugs. Khan had been arrested in March.

“Persons involved in drug trafficking, peddling, financing and hatching conspiracy always take utmost care to hide their activities. They use code language and code words for their transactions. CDR and WhatsApp chats of accused also refer the same and the role of accused,” the court said.

The court added that at this preliminary stage, it can be held with certainty that he forged prescriptions in his wife’s name. It is alleged that 31 alprazolam tablets weighing 4.5 gm were recovered. This qualifies as ‘small quantity’ of contraband under Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The court also relied on the statement of an Ahmedabad-based doctor who denied writing the prescriptions. It held that the witness’s statement clearly indicates who Khan is and what is his position in life. The court said that the law and its process help those who approach with clean hands and not those who are motivated to grab a favourable order by hook or by crook.

“Granting bail to such [a] person will amount [to] putting premium on the illegal act and unclean approach of the accused which will ultimately convey bad message to the law-abiding society...,” the court said.

Seeking bail for Khan, defence advocate Taraq Sayed said that he was falsely implicated. It was also submitted that the tablets were prescribed for his wife. Sayed said the alleged contraband was of a small quantity and bail can be granted.

The court noted that in a prescription of January 16, 2020, the volume of tablets is not mentioned in milligrams instead 20 doses are prescribed. The court held that no doctor ever prescribes such tablets without content in milligrams. It said that even handwriting in both prescriptions does not indicate they were written by any doctor. The court held that while prescriptions for his wife are of December 2020 and January 2021, 31 tablets were recovered in March and April 2021.

“In my opinion, no evidence is required even to hold prima facie that these prescriptions are forged, fabricated...”