Breaking: Mumbai Court To Consider Tomorrow Bail Applications Of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant & Munmun Dhamecha In Cruise Ship Drug Case

A Mumbai Court has on Thursday decided to consider tomorrow bail applications filed by Aryan Khan, son of actor Shahrukh Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha accused in connection with the seizure of drugs on a luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.The Court today rejected further NCB Custody of Aryan Khan, and 7 other accused in the Cruise ship drugs case and remanded them to judicial custody instead.Additional Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nirlekar was initially inclined to hear the bail applications today itself.However, ASG Anil Singh at the outset opposed the bail and applications saying that the same are not maintainable and cannot be considered here.Advocate Satish Maneshinde appearing for Aryan Khan argued that it is a mandate that the interim application has to be decided today. Advocate Taraq Sayed appearing for Arbaaz Merchant submitted that the punishment for the offences involved is only six months, and the bail applications can therefore be considered by this Court.The Court then decided to consider the bail applications tomorrow. The accused will be kept in NCB's custody till tomorrow as jail authorities do not admit the accused in the absence of Covid report.Rejecting the request for further NCB custody, the Court today observed that while there is no doubt that it is NCB's right to claim custody for investigation, simply remanding the accused to NCB custody would violate their fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution."No custodial interrogation is required as sufficient time was granted to the investigating officer for investigation," Additional Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nirlekar said.On October 2, NCB's zonal director Sameer Wankhede led a team of officers for a raid at the International Terminal of Mumbai Port Trust from where the Cordelia Cruise liner was to depart for Goa. Eight people were detained after the NCB allegedly seized intermediate and small quantities of cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), charas and Rs 1,33,000 cash. Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were the first to be arrested. 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. Nothing was recovered from Khan. So far, the NCB has arrested 17 people in the case and recovered commercial quantities of drugs, as well. The agency arrested several individuals after the cruise that was allowed to set sail following the raid, returned from Goa, on Monday. Those arrested include 10 guests, four event organisers, two alleged suppliers and one consumer. Eight people are booked under the stringent section 27A of the NDPS Act for financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders attracting a 20-year jail term.Edited by: Srishti Ojha

Breaking: Mumbai Court To Consider Tomorrow Bail Applications Of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant & Munmun Dhamecha In Cruise Ship Drug Case

Sharmeen Hakim

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