Cruise drug bust case: Bail pleas of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha rejected

Aryan Khan. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

A metropolitan magistrate here on Friday denied bail to Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in a case pertaining to the alleged seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R M Nerlikar rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan (23) and the other two accused. The court on Thursday sent Aryan Khan and seven others arrested in the case in 14-day judicial remand after their NCB custody ended.

Also Read: Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant sent to Arthur Road; Munmun to Byculla Women's Jail

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the NCB, opposed the bail applications of the three accused. After hearing the arguments, the magistrate denied bail to Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, saying their applications were not maintainable.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HEARING

• ASG- WhatsApp chats about football? The WhatsApp chat between Aachit and A1(Aryan Khan) refers to bulk quantities of drug. I didn't want to say this in open court.
• Kashiff says, they are alleging nexus against me (Munmun). But they haven't even been able to show how I am connected to A1 and 2.(Aryan and Arbaaz), forget the others.
• Kashiff says that even according to the prosecution, the alleged contraband of 5 gms was found on the floor and two other people Somiya and Baldev were also there with her (Munmun) at the time. Why are they not arrested?
• Advocate Ali Kashiff for Munmun Dhamecha begins arguing her bail application.
• Maneshinde - I am from a respectable family. I am based out of Mumbai. The accused who they say us connected with me is already in their custody.
• Maneshinde futher argued that nothing has emerged in the last five days because there is nothing.

• Maneshinde - I have parents and a family here. I have an Indian passport and I am not going to abscond. There is no question of tampering.

• Maneshinde - I am a 23 year old with no prior antecedents. I happen to be from Bollywood.I went on an invitation, refused when asked if I have drugs.

  They were honest not to accuse me of anything else. Data from my mobile has been retrieved and sent for forensics.

• Maneshinde further argues that there is no material except his clients statement that can make this a case of consumption.
• Maneshinde replies that there are various offences which are triable by special courts but Magistrate courts can be approached for bail.
• ASG submits that this is a matter for the NDPS court.
• Maneshinde reads excerpts from CrPC which explain when bail should be granted in non-bailable offences.
• ASG refutes and refers to actor Arman Kohli's case where the same court had denied his bail on basis of maintainability.
• "Why is the union government interested in cases of drug consumption," asks Maneshinde.
• Aryan Khan's lawyer Satish Maneshinde begins argument.
• NCB in their reply told the court that the bail applications of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha are not maintainable and ill-conceived.
• Additional Solicitor General (ASG) begins arguments on maintainability of bail applications.
• Bail hearing of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha to begin shortly
• Munmun Dhamecha's lawyer, Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, said in the bail application that NCB falsely implicated her in order to highlight the matter in national and international media.

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.

(With inputs from Faizan Khan)