The Narcotics Control Bureau had earlier arrested Aryan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan’s son, on 3 October 2021 on charges that he was involved in an international drugs trafficking ring
Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, had to spend over three weeks in jail before he was granted bail in the drugs-on-cruise case. PTI
Aryan Khan and his family must be heaving a big sigh of relief after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) gave Shah Rukh Khan’s son a clean chit in the October 2021 ‘drugs-on-cruise’ case in which he was arrested last year.
In its 6,000-page chargesheet, the NCB named 14 accused, but excluded the names of Aryan and five others due to “lack of sufficient evidence”.
“Based on the investigation carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), a complaint against 14 persons under various sections of the NDPS Act is being filed (before a Mumbai court). Complaint against rest six persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence,” it said, as per a PTI report.
Besides Aryan Khan, Avin Shahu, Gopal Anand, Samir Saighan, Bhaskar Aroda, and Manav Singhal have also been cleared of all charges in the case.
Here’s a timeline of the events from when the Bollywood superstar’s 24-year-old son was arrested and the subsequent events, including his dramatic bail release, to today’s development of being let off.
Aryan Khan’s arrest
Headlines were created back on 2 October 2021 when Aryan Khan was detained after the anti-drugs agency raided the Cordelia cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai, based on a tip-off about a rave party on the ship.
Aryan was then arrested and produced before a magistrate’s court on 3 October, which had sent him to the NCB’s custody for a day.
The NCB on 4 October then claimed that it had found evidence linking Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha to an international drug trafficking ring. It sought further custody of the three and they were sent to judicial custody till 7 October. Aryan and Arbaz were lodged at Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, whereas Munmun was kept at the city’s Byculla Ladies Jail.
Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde applied for bail on 8 October, but that was rejected by the magistrate’s court. Another bail plea was made on 11 October in front of the special NDPS court.
Hearing of the plea continued till 20 October when the court rejected their bail applications, saying there was evidence against Aryan Khan which “shows the nexus of the applicant/accused no1 (Aryan Khan) with suppliers and peddlers”.
Aryan’s lawyers then appealed this bail order in front of the Bombay High Court. In the petition, Aryan said NCB’s “interpretation and misinterpretation” of the WhatsApp chats collected from his mobile phone was “wrong and unjustified”.
Finally, on 28 October, the high court granted bail to Aryan, saying that there was “hardly any positive evidence” to show conspiracy and that there was “nothing objectionable” noticed in the WhatsApp chats allegedly recovered from Aryan’s phone to suggest that there was a conspiracy. Aryan then walked out of prison on 30 October.
Controversies galore
The investigation into the Aryan Khan ‘drugs on cruise’ case was mired in controversies. There were allegations of wrongdoing by the NCB, political parties alleging that it was a smokescreen and part of a ‘larger conspiracy’.
The first storm erupted when a selfie emerged of a man with Aryan during initial interrogations. The photo of Aryan Khan, which went viral, was taken by KP Gosavi who the NCB said was an independent panch witness. It later came to light that Gosavi had a criminal background with multiple cases pending against him with the Maharashtra police.
Controversy was reignited when Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness in the cruise drugs case alleged an extortion bid of Rs 25 crore by some agency officials, including its then Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, and others for letting off Aryan Khan.
A month into the investigation several charges were also levelled against NCB Mumbai chief Sameer Wankhede, including those of extortion and forgery and misrepresentation.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik had levelled multiple charges against Sameer Wankhede; he alleged that the NCB officer, despite being a Muslim, claimed he belonged to a Scheduled Caste and used forgery to acquire a government job.
In November, Sameer Wankhede was removed from the investigating team and a SIT was formed to probe the Aryan Khan case.
Why the NCB let off Aryan?
The NCB has cited that it didn’t have sufficient evidence against Aryan and hence, gave him the clean chit.
On the matter of the Whatsapp chats, which had become the centre of the NCB’s probe, chief SN Pradhan was quoted as telling ANI, “There should be physical corroboration of WhatsApp chat. Courts have clarified that WhatsApp chat, in itself, holds no value. You can talk about anything on WhatsApp but if not corroborated with physical evidence, it’s not complete evidence.”
The NCB DG was also quoted as saying by News18 that “the initial investigation has found many flaws in the way Sameer Wankhade handled the case. The agency is also probing corruption angle and the details will come out shortly in the report.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that government has asked competent authority to take appropriate action against ex-NCB official Sameer Wankhede for his shoddy investigation into Aryan Khan drugs haul case.
Reactions
The clean chit to Aryan Khan has prompted reactions from all corners — politicians as well as celebrities.
Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Aryan Khan in court and secured bail for him, told NDTV, “Shah Rukh Khan is very relieved. Ultimately, truth has prevailed.”
The lawyer added, “There was no material to charge this young man or arrest him. No drugs were found on him. I am happy that the NCB acted professionally in admitting their mistake.”
The NCP hailed the decision and asked who would be held responsible for the trauma he suffered.
NCP spokesman Clyde Crasto said, “If Aryan Khan was clean, why was he tainted? What was the motive? Who will be held responsible for the trauma this young man suffered? Many questions arise.”
Netizens, too reacted to the news with some calling out Sameer Wankhede and demanding action against him.
With inputs from agencies