Mumbai, Oct 21 (UNI) A Special NDPS court here on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and seven others accused in the Mumbai cruise drugs bust case, till October 30.
The accused were not produced in the court physically but they appeared through video conferencing, hours after the Bombay High Court set the date for Aryan's bail hearing to October 26.
The 23-year-old met his father for the first time on Thursday since his arrest at the Arthur Road jail early in the day as Shah Rukh spent several minutes with his son, after he was shifted to a special egg-shaped cell.
Aryan's bail plea was rejected by a special NDPS court on Wednesday had immediately filed a fresh bail plea at the Bombay High Court which was partly heard on Thursday and the further hearing of the plea is set for next Tuesday.
The special NDPS court, while refusing Aryan's bail, observed that he was involved in "illicit drugs activities on a regular basis" and had "a nexus with drug peddlers and suppliers".
Aryan Khan's friend Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha's pleas were also rejected by the court.
NDPS court Judge VV Patil said on Wednesday said Aryan can commit similar offence while out on bail.
In an 18-page order, Judge Patil wrote, "Considering the evidence on record, it cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that applicants accused no. 1 (Khan), 2 (Merchant) and 3 (Dhamecha) are not guilty of such an offence and they are not likely to commit such offence while on bail."
"Thus, considering the prima-facie involvement of the applicants/accused no. 1 to 3 (Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha) in the commission of a grave and serious offence, this is not a fit case for granting bail," the order went on to say.
The special NDPS court further added, "Material placed on record prima-facie shows that Section 29 of the NDPS Act is applicable. Therefore, the rigours of Section 37 of the NDPS Act would apply. Therefore, it is not possible to record satisfaction at this stage that applicants have not committed any offence under the NDPS Act."
While Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged in the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla prison for women.
Based on a tip-off that a rave party was scheduled on the ship, a team of Narcotic Control Bureau team raided the Goa-bound Cordelia cruise on October 2 evening and allegedly seized drugs. Several persons including Aryan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested.
NCB sleuths said they seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of MD, 21 grams of Charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and Rs 1.33 lakh in cash during the raid.
On October 14 the arguments on the bail application in the sessions court was concluded before special NDPS Judge Patil.
The defence has maintained that Aryan was not on the cruise and was apprehended as he was going to attend the party, where he was a special invitee and no drug was sized from him.
A battery of lawyers, who were representing the actor's son, said as an international practice many countries have made substances like cannabis legal and removed them from the schedule of dangerous drugs and the accused are young kids and they have “suffered enough” and learned their lessons hence they should be released on bail.
Soon after the arrest of Aryan, the defence had moved a bail plea in the local court which was rejected on October 8 on the grounds of maintainability and jurisdiction of the court.
Following the rejection of the bail by the local court, Aryan's lawyers moved the sessions court challenging the local court's order.
Prosecution was represented by additional solicitor general Anil Singh and others while the defence team was compraising of Sr Advocate Amit Desai, Satish Man Shinde and others.
Since the day of his arrest, Aryan spent the first two days in NCB custody while on October 5, Aryan was remanded to judicial custody and was lodge in the Arthur Road jail.
He was first kept in the quarantine centre of the jail and later shifted to normal barracks with other prisoners.
During his stay in jail, he was allowed to make a video call and speak with his family members. A team of narcotic counsellors also met him in jail and informed him about the ill effect of drugs.
UNI AAA ING