By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, July 14:
Special NDPS Judge VV Patil allowed cancellation of bail bond and the return of passport of Bollywood actor SRK’s son Aryan Khan, named in Cordelia cruise drug raid case, on Wednesday.
Aryan had deposited his passport with the Special Court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in compliance with the condition imposed by the Bombay High Court when it granted bail to him in the cruise ship drug case on October 28, 2021.
Besides a personal bond of Rs one lakh was collected from him when he was finally released on bail on October 30, 2021, after 22 days behind the bars in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.
Aryan had applied on June 30 after NCB did not file draft charges against him in the cruise drug case on May 27 amounting a clean chit to him.
While allowing the return of Aryan’s passport, the judge took note of the fact that Aryan was given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the charge sheet. But the court did not grant the relief of ‘discharge’ as sought by Aryan in his application, following an objection by the NCB to do so.
Senior Advocate Amit Desai appearing for Aryan Khan pressed for an order to the effect saying Aryan has been formally ‘discharged’ from the case. The NCB’s reply is clear and it puts an end to everything. There is no complaint against the accused, no material evidence and there is no pending investigation, Desai contended.
However, Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna appearing for NCB vehemently opposed the word ‘discharged’ being used in the order. While the agency has no objection to the cancellation of the bail bond or return of the passport, the agency has an issue with using the word ‘discharge’ in the order, Sethna argued.
Eventually, Aryan’s lawyer did not press for the prayer seeking formal discharge and the court proceeded to allow the application for return of passport and cancellation of bail bond.
Aryan was arrested for alleged contravention of Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29, and 35 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the NCB on October 2, 2021, after the agency raided a cruise ship en route to Goa from Mumbai. He was arrested from the terminal to the cruise. The NCB had seized 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone MD, 21 grams Charas (hashish), and 22 pills of MDMA ecstasy during the raid.
When Aryan approached the metropolitan magistrate’s court for bail, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nerlikar rejected his bail application, on the ground that it was not maintainable since only the special court of sessions was entitled to hear the bail plea.
Subsequently, Aryan moved to the special court seeking bail, which was rejected on October 20, 2021. He then moved the Bombay High Court in the appeal which granted him bail on October 28, 2021.
On May 27, this year, Aryan was given a clean chit by the NCB. He was among 6 given clean chit. The others who were given a clean chit included: Avin Sahu, Gopal Ji Anand, Sameer Sehgal, Bhaskar Arora, and Manav Singhal. Most of them were employees of Caneplus Trading, the company that organized the cruise.
