Mumbai drug bust: No relief for Aryan Khan today as Bombay HC to hear his bail plea on Oct 26

The Bombay High Court will hear on October 26 the bail plea of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who was denied bail by the special NDPS court on Wednesday.

The Bombay High Court will hear on October 26 the bail plea of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, who has been arrested in connection with the case of seizure of banned drugs aboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Khan’s lawyer, along with two other bail applicants Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, on Wednesday moved the high court, seeking urgent hearing of the bail pleas after a special NDPS court refused to grant them relief on Wednesday.

The court observed that `on the face of it’, Aryan Khan was indulging in “illicit drug activities on a regular basis”. His WhatsApp chats also showed, prima facie, that he was in touch with drug peddlers, the court noted.

Aryan (23), arrested with a few others on October 3 after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs including charas, has now moved the Bombay High Court.

The special NDPS Act court in its 21-page order noted that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan prima facie revealed that he was “dealing in illicit drug activities on a regular basis” and therefore it cannot be said that he was not likely to commit a similar offence if released on bail.

It also held that Aryan knew that his friend and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant was in possession of drugs, and hence there was “conscious possession” even though the NCB had not found any drugs on Aryan himself.

“Considering the prima facie involvement of the applicants/accused No 1 to 3 (Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha) in commission of grave and serious offence, this is not a fit case for granting bail,” the judge said in the order.

Earlier, a magistrate’s court had rejected the accused’s bail pleas, saying only a special court can hear these matters.

Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, among others, were arrested on October 3 for alleged conspiracy, possession, consumption, purchase and trafficking of drugs under the NDPS Act. They are now in judicial custody. While Aryan Khan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road prison, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla women’s prison in the city. So far, 20 persons have been arrested in the case.