Mumbai court rejects bail pleas of SRK's son Aryan Khan, 2 others over drug seizure case

Mumbai: Mumbai Special NDPS Court on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and two others in connection with the seizure of banned drugs on board a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Special Judge V V Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha.

Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and trafficking of drugs.

The trio is presently in judicial custody. While Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla women's prison here.

Aryan Khan and others accused in the case have been booked for offences under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act.

Khan's lawyer said that though the detailed order of Special Judge V V Patil is awaited, they plan to "appeal to the Bombay High Court today or tomorrow seeking bail".

Meanwhile, the NCB has reportedly found the mention of a heroine in one of the WhatsApp chats of Aryan – who has been inside the lockup or custody for 19 nights continuously since his detention on October 2 and arrest on October 3.

The NCB has reportedly counselled him and other co-accused, offered them their religious holy books like Bhagwad Gita, Quran or Bible, Aryan reportedly is full of remorse and has promised to 'reform' himself after release.

However, Nationalist Congress Party National Spokesperson and Minister Nawab Malik has challenged these claims and demanded the NCB should release videos of the purported counselling sessions instead of indulging in selective leaks.

In one of the most high-profile operations, Aryan Khan, along with 7 others was caught when the NCB team led by Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede swooped on an alleged rave party aboard a cruise ship on October 2 evening.

During subsequent investigations, another 12 persons, including a foreigner have been nabbed in the same case, while some others have been raided or questioned.

Simultaneously, fingers have been raised at the NCB's style of working, the involvement of a fugitive and a politician, friends of the sleuths as 'independent witnesses', capped by the unprecedented plea to the CJI seeking a probe into the central narcotics agency's alleged 'mala fide doings'.