Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has been in the custody of NCB after he was arrested by a party allegedly in the drugs case. Today senior advocate Amit Desai argued for the bail plea of the Starkid in the special NDPS court.
The senior advocate said that Aryan Khan was not on the cruise which was raided by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 2. He also added that his client Aryan was arrested before he got to the cruise. He informed the media that when Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant another person who is arrested, reached the entry gate, the NCB raid was already going on and they were asked whether they had contraband and Arbaaz Merchant admitted. As per the reports, Desai said, “Nothing was recovered from Aryan Khan”.
However, from the NCB’s side, ASG Anil Singh said, Aryan Khan knew of the possession and therefore this would amount to conscious possession. He further stated that Aryan and Arbaaz had known each other for eight to ten years. Arbaaz was carrying drugs intended for their consumption. NCB is unconcerned with a single or two people. It is concerned with the whole process. “The argument is, I was invited for the party, no more details,” Anil Singh said.
“Their maximum case against Aryan Khan is no possession, admission of consumption,” Aryan Khan’s lawyer said. “If he did not have cash, he had no plans to purchase. If he had no substance, he wasn’t going to sell or consume. There is no connection between Aryan Khan and any of the recoveries and yet we have the words ‘in connection with’ in the remand. They are doing a good job by arresting many, but that doesn’t give them the right to hold on to those who are entitled to be set at liberty,” Hindustan Times quoted Amit Desai as saying.
The NCB aggressively opposed Aryan Khan’s bail request on Wednesday, stating that regardless of the amount of recovery, Aryan Khan cannot be granted release because the agency’s first research shows that he is a member of the nexus. According to the NCB, Aryan Khan used to obtain narcotics through Arbaaz Merchant and Arbaaz’s suppliers, forming an “illegal drug chain.”
“This is a very serious term that they have dumped on Aryan Khan. I have no doubt that my friends know what is illicit trafficking according to the NDPS Act means,” Aryan Khan’s lawyer added.
“The allegation of illicit trafficking is inherently absurd. This boy who has nothing, he was not even on the vessel. It is an absurd and false allegation,” Desai added.
“They are some young kids. In many countries these substances are legal. Let us not penalise in bail. Let us not make it worse for them. They have suffered enough, they have learnt their lesson, if at all. They are not peddlers, racketeers or traffickers. We as a country have moved into a reformative state. Where earlier the punishment for consumption was five years has been brought down to one year in 2001,” Aryan Khan’s lawyer said.
