Aryan Khan’s lawyers plead the Bombay High Court to hear his bail application on urgent basis
Aryan Khan’s lawyers are expected to ask the Bombay High Court on Thursday to hear his bail application in the cruise drugs case on an urgent basis, a day after a special Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court in Mumbai denied the 23-year-application, old’s stating that he was engaging in ‘illicit drug activities’ on a regular basis and could commit a similar offence if released.
Along with Aryan Khan, his fellow cruise members Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha had their bail applications rejected by the NDPS court on Wednesday. Khan filed an application in the Bombay high court against the special NDPS court order shortly after the decision was made. Arbaaz Merchant’s lawyer also stated that his client will file a petition with the Supreme Court today to challenge the NDPS court order. Dhamecha is also likely to follow.
At 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, the special NDPS court in Mumbai heard the bail petitions of all three accused in the cruise drugs case and rejected them, observing that Khan, Merchant, and Dhamecha acted in conspiracy with each other and are all linked in the same thread. The judge agreed with the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) contention that all of the defendants were part of a large drug network.
The court noted, among other things, that Aryan Khan is in contact with other drug dealers. ‘In the case at hand, material on record reveals that there is incriminating material in the form of WhatsApp chats, etc., which shows the nexus of the applicant / accused no. 1 with suppliers and peddlers,’ the judge wrote in his 21-page order.
There is a reference to ‘bulk quantity’ and ‘hard drugs’ in Khan’s WhatsApp chats, and ‘there is prima facie material showing that accused No 1 was in contact with persons dealing in prohibited narcotic substances,’ according to the order.
