Senior advocate and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who argued on behalf of Aryan Khan in the Bombay High Court, said the Mumbai drugs case against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s 23-year-old son was stretched too far by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) despite having “no evidence” against him.
In an exclusive interview to India Today, Rohatgi said prosecution agencies try to keep people in prison once they have been held. “Sensitising law enforcement agencies will go a long way in decongesting prisons,” he said.
“There was no proof of consumption, peddling, or carrying large amounts. Yet, the NCB tried to make it a case of commercial quantity, which was stretching it too far,” he was quoted as saying.
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On being asked about the Bombay High Court’s decision to grant bail to Aryan, Rohatgi told India Today that there were two main aspects of the case. First, there was no recovery of drugs from Aryan and secondly, he was associated with Arbaaz Merchant, a co-accused in the case.
Rohatgi explained if a person is a consumer of small quantities, then he/she will be treated in a different manner. “The law enforcement agencies fail to make this distinction. They leapfrog to commercial quantity,” he told India Today.
Meanwhile, he also reacted on the Mumbai’s sessions court’s order and said the investigating team has no material to say that a “syndicate” is being probed. “The argument of conscious possession was stretched beyond a point to include those who were complete strangers to Aryan Khan,” he was quoted as saying.
For the unversed, Aryan on Saturday returned home from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail after spending 22 days there following his arrest in a NCB raid on a cruise ship off the city coast. Aryan walked out of the prison at 11 am, got into a car and reached home Mannat, a landmark in surburban Bandra half an hour later, as fans waited outside the landmark bungalow to catch a glimpse.
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Aryan came out of the prison a day after a special court issued his release memo. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday. Shah Rukh Khan’s actor-friend Juhi Chawla stood as surety for the 23-year-old before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
The HC on Friday afternoon made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan and his co-accused in the case, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount. The relief to the trio came just a day before the HC was scheduled to take a two-week break for Diwali.
In the five-page order, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court and will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence. The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week.
Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs and conspiracy and abetment.Meanwhile, a special court in Mumbai on Saturday granted bail to alleged drug peddler Aachit Kumar and eight others who were arrested by the NCB following the raid on the cruise ship. Of the 20 persons arrested by the NCB after the raid, as many as 14 have got bail so far.
(with inputs from PTI)
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