My Whatsapp Chats Being Used To Entangle Me In Cruise Ship Drug Case : Aryan Khan Says In His Bail Application Before Sessions Court- Read Details

Aryan Khan, accused number 1 in the cruise ship drug case has pleaded innocence and false implication in his bail application before the Special NDPS Court. Khan states that no contraband was found on him and at most the allegations against him would attract a one-year jail term. Moreover, the embargo for bail under section 37 of the NDPS Act would not apply as no recoveries were made from him and all the allegations pertain only to small quantities. "The applicant is the son of a prominent Bollywood film actor…" The applicant is innocent and has not committed any crime whatsoever. The applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case," the plea states. The Narcotics Control Bureau detained and subsequently arrested Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, last Sunday. They were booked under sections 8(c) read with 20b (purchase), 27 (consumption), 28 (attempt to commit offence), 29 (abetment/ conspiracy) and 35 (presumption of culpable mental state) of the NDPS Act, after six and five grams of charas was allegedly seized from Merchant and Dhamecha respectively. The three have approached the special court after a magistrate's court rejected his bail application on the grounds that it was not maintainable. Special Judge VV Patil granted NCB time till Wednesday to file their reply to Khan's plea and posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday. Khan's plea states that 'the prosecution is relying solely upon certain alleged WhatsApp chats to entangle him in the present proceedings, without the veracity or accuracy of the chats being established.' "In addition, there is nothing to suggest that these alleged chats have any connection whatsoever to the case that is presently being investigated," the plea adds. It cites the case of Paul Bartels v. Union of India where the accused was enlarged on bail holding that no contraband, but only WhatsApp Chats were found and therefore the accused were allowed the concession of bail. Based on the material on record, there is nothing on records to suggest that Khan is in any way connected to the production, manufacture, distribution, possession of psychotropic substances therefore no offence under the NDPS Act is made out against him. "The allegations being levelled by the respondents are not corroborated/substantiated in any manner whatsoever," the plea reads. The application adds that Khan has strong roots in society and is a permanent resident of Mumbai along with his family members. So there is no likelihood he will abscond. "That India is dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and the city of Mumbai has been especially suffering…Given the factual matrix of the present case and the ongoing pandemic, remanding the applicant to extended custody would be prejudicial to his physical health as well," Khan states in his bail application. NCB Doesn't Seek Custody of Accused Arrested with Intermediate Quantities of Cocaine On Monday, a metropolitan magistrate remanded the 20th arrestee in the case - Oroko Uzeoma – allegedly caught with 14 grams of the intermediate quantity of cocaine to judicial custody after the NCB did not seek his further custody. He was arrested from Goregaon yesterday and booked under sections 8(c), 21(b), 28, 29 and 35 of the IPC. Six others accused in the case, alleged peddlers Abul Qadir Sheikh, Chinedu Igwe, Shivraj Harijan and Shreyas Nair, guests Maneesh Rajgaria and Aniv Sahu were also remanded to judicial custody after the NCB did not seek their police custody.Also Read: Breaking: Mumbai Special Court Will Hear Aryan Khan's Bail Application on Wednesday

My Whatsapp Chats Being Used To Entangle Me In Cruise Ship Drug Case : Aryan Khan Says In His Bail Application Before Sessions Court- Read Details

Sharmeen Hakim

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