Aryan Khan Case : Sam D'Souza Approaches Bombay HC; Says Money Returned To SRK's Manager

Sam D'Souza, the consultant accused of brokering a deal between Shah Rukh Khan's manager - Pooja Dadlani – and KP Gosavi for Aryan Khan's benefit, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory bail and protection against arrest. D'Souza partially corroborates witness Prabhakar Sail's allegations about Rs 50 lakhs being given to Gosavi to remove Khan from the situation in the cruise drugs case as nothing was found on him. However, he claims to have done nothing wrong and ensured the money was returned to Dadlani, through her husband, after the shocking news of Khan's arrest. D'Souza has also given the Narcotic Control Bureau's Zonal Director - Sameer Wankhede - a clean chit, accusing KP Gosavi and Sail of being "frauds." Earlier, Sail had claimed that part of the transaction amount was to be given to Wankhede and that the NCB officer had asked him to sign on blank papers. "After coming to know that Kiran Gosavi was a fraud, the applicant's only motive was to recover the money and save his image…Therefore, he connected Sunil Patil (middle man) and Kiran Gosavi and recovered the money and return the said money back to Pooja Dadlani, through her husband." The applicant saw that Kiran had saved mobile no. as SW2, thereby showing that he was connected with top NCB officials; however, the true caller pop up showed the name of Prabhakar Sail." In the petition filed through Lex Rex Jurist, D'Souza has sought a notice of three days before any coercive action against him and anticipatory bail. D'Souza fears his arrest by the Special Investigation Team formed by the Maharashtra Government after allegations of extortion surfaced. Gosavi is currently in custody in a cheating case in Pune, while the State has assured the Bombay HC that they will give Wankhede three days of advance notice if they plan to take action against him. How Dadlani Allegedly Met Gosavi According to the petition, D' Souza is a stone quarrying business consultant and was contacted by one Sunil Patil (in the business of liasoning ) on October 1. D'Souza claims that Patil told him about the involvement of celebrities in a drugs case on the Cordelia cruise. On being asked, D'Souza said he gave Patil the contact of NCB officials. Later, D'Souza says he learned from KP Gosavi and Manish Bhaushali that the influential person arrested was Aryan Khan. Also, that Khan wanted to speak to Dadlani. "Mr Gosavi revealed that Aryan Khan had no drugs in his possession till that time and he is innocent and Kiran Gosavi convinced me he could help Khan get some relief and asked me to connect with Pooja Dadlani." D'Souza said that while he did not know Dadlani personally, he contacted her through a mutual friend, who is a hotelier and met her at Lower Parel and then Dadlani is alleged to have told him that she is the decision-maker. "The applicant(D'Souza) introduced Dadlani and KP Gosavi at Lower Parel for the first time along with Chikki Pandey, Mayur Ghule and Kapil Dhole Patil," the petition states. Dadlani's husband was also present, he claims. D' Souza said that Gosavi showed Dadlani a list in which Khan's name was not present and informed her that Khan had no drugs on him and he could help Aryan Khan "get out of the situation." D'SOuza says that then Dadlani and Gosavi spoke in private. On October 3, D'Souza said he was "shocked" to learn that FIR has been registered against Khan. After that he learned from Patil that Gosavi had taken Rs. 50 lakhs from Dadlani through Prabhakar Sail, who is also Gosavi's bodyguard. D'Souza said it was only after that he learned that Gosavi was a fraud and the money was eventually returned. The petition will come up shortly before a bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and S Tavade.

Aryan Khan Case : Sam D'Souza Approaches Bombay HC; Says Money Returned To SRK's Manager

Sharmeen Hakim

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