Aryan Khan case: NCB seeks 90 more days for chargesheet

Agency had arrested 19 people after Cordelia cruise drug bust last October

Nearly six months after NCB officers busted a high-profile drug party on the Cordelia cruise ship which led to the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, the Narcotics Control Bureau has moved a special NDPS court seeking 90 more days to file the charge sheet in the case, mid-day has learnt. The case is being probed by a special investigation team of the NCB.

Aryan Khan at the NCB office in Ballard Estate on November 19, 2021. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Agencies investigating cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act are required to file the charge sheet within 180 days. The Cordelia cruise drug case was registered by NCB’s Mumbai team last year in October. But it triggered a massive controversy and a series of allegations by Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik against the then NCB Zonal Director Samir Wankhede. 

Malik said Aryan Khan was framed to extort money, with the help of the BJP. The minister also raised a lot of questions against the panch witnesses in the case. The uproar prompted the agency to take the case from Wankhede and hand it over to a special investigation team. Since then, the SIT has recorded hundreds of statements. Since Malik’s allegations cast aspersions on the credibility of the NCB, the SIT recreated the entire raid that took place on October 2, 2020. 

The Cordelia cruiseliner where the drug party was busted last year

“Our investigation in the matter is incomplete and we need more time to file the charge sheet. We have sought a 90-day extension from the court,” a senior NCB officer told mid-day. The NCB had arrested 19 people, including Aryan Khan, and 17 of them are out on bail. Two Nigerian nationals who had allegedly supplied the drugs for the cruise party are still behind bars. Aryan Khan spent 5 days in NCB custody and 22 days in jail. While granting him bail, the court had said there was no evidence of a conspiracy against him.

27
No. of days Aryan Khan spent in custody

180
No. of days for charge sheets to be filed in NDPS cases

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!