Bail hearing of Aryan Khan, others adjourned till tomorrow
The Bombay High Court continued hearing Aryan Khan's bail application in relation to the Cordelia Cruises drug case today. But again, no resolution was reached. Lawyers of co-accused Arbaaz Merchantt and Munmun Dhamecha presented their side. The hearing was adjourned till tomorrow. The HC is hearing the case after a Special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Court refused to grant them bail earlier.
Merchantt and Dhamecha's counsels presented their sides today
Justice Nitin Sambre's single bench continued hearing the case from 3:50 pm today. Senior Advocate Amit Desai resumed his arguments on behalf of co-accused Merchantt. He said the law says "bail is the rule and jail is exception" but here the opposite was happening. Then Dhamecha's counsel Ali Kashif Khan began at 5:09 pm. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh for NCB will speak tomorrow.
Amit Desai was representing Merchantt in the matter
Amit Desai: Law is - bail is the rule and jail is exception, now it is Arrest is the rule and Bail is exception.#AryanKhanDrugsCase #AryanKhan#BombayHighCourt #AryanKhanCase pic.twitter.com/KFTb4zmsAK
— Bar Bench (@barandbench) October 27, 2021
Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Aryan rested his case yesterday
On Tuesday, Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had appeared for Aryan and told the court there was "no consumption, no possession" of drugs, so he was "wrongly arrested." Rubbishing NCB's claims that Aryan had "conscious possession" of contraband seized from Merchantt, Rohatgi said "conscious possession is what is under my control and knowledge" "What somebody else had in their shoe is not my concern."
Aryan's rejoinder clarified he wasn't connected to Sail or Gosavi
The senior advocate noted his client was being denied bail for his WhatsApp chats. But, according to him, "none of those chats have anything to do with the [cruise party]." He filed a rejoinder on Aryan's behalf where he clarified he has no relation with the allegations raised against NCB's Sameer Wankhede, nor does he have connection with Prabhakar Sail or Kiran P Gosavi.
Wankhede preliminary inquiry: Meanwhile, NCB questioned Sail for 4 hours
Coming to Sail, the "hostile" witness was questioned by the anti-drugs body for four hours yesterday. The interrogation was part of the inquiry that began into Wankhede based on Sail's allegation of extortion. Reportedly, a five-member team led by NCB DDG NR Gyaneshwar Singh is conducting the inquiry. Meanwhile, Manish Rajgarhiya and Avin Sahu became the first individuals to secure bail in this case.
