A special court in Mumbai is likely to pronounce its order on Wednesday on the bail application filed by Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who was arrested on October 3 in a case of alleged seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship. Aryan (23), arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), is currently lodged in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail ever since he was denied bail by the magistrate court on October 9. The special court had reserved its order till October 20 on his bail plea last week.
All you need to know about the sensational case:
The bust: Aryan Khan and seven others were detained when an undercover NCB team led by zonal chief Sameer Wankhede raided a party being held on the Goa-bound Cordelia cruise ship and seized drugs on the cruise ship off the Mumbai coast on October 2. They were formally arrested the next day. The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested 18 people so far.
NCB’s Charge: Khan and two others – Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha — have sought bail from the court of V V Patil, special judge for cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The NCB has claimed that there was evidence to show that Aryan Khan was a regular consumer of drugs and that even though nothing was recovered from him personally, his WhatsApp chats revealed he has links with drug peddlers.
The NCB has also been claiming that Aryan was in contact with members of an international drug racket.
Aryan’s contention: Aryan’s lawyer, senior counsel Amit Desai, has questioned the basis of the NCB’s case which cites WhatsApp chats as evidence. Desai said today’s youth have different ways of expressing themselves which might be “torture” for the older generation. “The language could seem like something different than what ought to be (expected) in a court of law and might lead to suspicion,” Desai said. “These are private moments which are being investigated. You can go ahead and investigate…But it has nothing to do with illicit behaviour, illicit drug trafficking,” he added.
Qaidi no 956: Aryan, and the male accused in the case, spent the initial week in Arthur Raod jail’s ‘quarantine cell’ owing to special norms laid in view of Covid-19. They were moved to the general barracks last Wednesday after testing negative for Covid-19. According to sources, Aryan has been allotted Qaidi (prisoner) number 956.
Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri: While there are varying reports that SRK has met his son while he was in NCB custody, there has been no confirmation from either side. The 23-year-old was, however, allowed to speak to his father and mother through video conferencing from jail recently. Undertrials are allowed to speak to their kin via video call once or twice a week, a jail official said.
Life behind bars: Aryan is being served food that is cooked inside the prison and he is not allowed to have any outside food. Aryan also received Rs 4,500 though money-order sent by his father which he can use to get bread, bhel, samosa, and vada pav among other snacks from the Arthur Road prison canteen. The Arthur Road prison’s canteen menu reportedly includes bread, bhel, mineral water, vada pav, bhaji pav, namkeen, samosa, chicken thali and an egg thali. There were reports that Aryan had refused the prison food and was only eating biscuits and drinking mineral water, a charge the jail authorities had vehemently denied.
Gauri’s ‘mannat’: Reports say that mother Gauri had kept a ‘mannat’ during Navaratri and was constantly praying for her son’s return home. It has also come to light that Gauri has strictly instructed the staff at Mannat to not cook anything sweet in the kitchen till Aryan is released. News18, meanwhile, had reported how Shah Rukh had delayed the shooting of his anticipated movies Pathan and Atlee’s next until this case is ironed out.
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