Cordelia cruise drugs case: NCB gets 60-day extension to file chargesheet

The NCB had on Monday sought a 90-day extension beyond the stipulated time of 180 days to file its chargesheet. In October 2021, the agency had arrested 20 persons in the case, including Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan. While 18 were granted bail, two remain in custody.

On Wednesday, special judge V V Patil heard arguments by the NCB special public prosecutor and the defence lawyers of Abdul Kadar and Chinedu Igwe, the two still in custody.

The NCB special public prosecutor Advait Sethna said that the Narcotic Drugs and Pyschotropic Substances Act has provisions for an extension up to a year to be granted to the investigating agency if it has ‘compelling reasons’. He said that the forensic reports of the 17 samples seized during the raid show they are narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which suggests that the investigation, at least at this stage, is going in the right direction.

He said there is “voluminous digital data” in the case yet to be analysed. He also submitted a report to the court on the evidence collected so far and the pending probe.

Lawyers Ayaz Khan and Gorakh Liman, representing Igwe, submitted that they were rendered ‘handicap’ as they were not provided with a copy of the report submitted by the prosecutor to the court. They also said that pending analysis of digit data cannot be a ground for extension of time to file chargesheet.

Lawyers Kushal Mor and Apoorv Srivastava, representing Kadar, submitted that the extension was being sought to keep the two men in custody for longer. They claimed that Kadar was falsely implicated and the NCB can file a supplementary chargesheet in the case for its pending investigation.