In a major setback for the Khan family, Bombay High Court, yesterday adjourned the hearing of the bail plea of Aryan Khan. The court will hear the bail plea today at 2:30 in the noon. 

The Bombay High Court will today resume hearing on the bail plea of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in connection with the drug bust case on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast. However, two of the 20 accused in Mumbai’s drugs-on-cruise case, Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu, got bail from the special court hearing the case on Tuesday. Manish Rajgaria, accused number 11 in the case, was arrested in possession of 2.4 grams of Ganja. He was released with a bond amount of ? 50,000. Avin Sahu was accused of consuming contraband twice. They were arrested as the cruise ship returned to Mumbai.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case, is lodged at the Arthur Road Jail with another accused Arbaaz Merchant. Whereas, Munmun Dhamecha is at Byculla women prison. The central agency that is responsible for cleaning the drug menace has strictly opposed the bail plea of Aryan Khan stating that he could be linked to a larger drug nexus and giving him bail could lead to tampering of evidence and influencing witnesses.

Representing Aryan Khan, former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohtagi argued that Aryan Khan was a “young man” who should be sent to rehab centre rather than being lodged into a jail. He also claimed that the NCB is misinterpreting the 23-year-old boy’s WhatsApp chats with actress Ananya Panday and others. Questioning the finding by the judge of a special court handling drug cases that Aryan was in Âconscious possession of contraband found with a friend, Rohatgi said the surmise was Âtenuous and farfetchedÂ. ÂPossession of somebody else cannot be my possession unless there is control and knowledge. The former attorney general underlined his point about complicity by citing a Supreme Court judgment on a minister who was booked for harbouring a terrorist after a servant brought him into the house. ÂThe SC said that cannot be the case, he said.

Aryan along with Arbaaz Merchant, and model Munmun Dhamecha was arrested by the NCB on October 3 after a drugs raid on a cruise ship party by Narcotics Control Bureau officers in disguise. He has been in Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail since October 8 and his bail plea has been rejected twice by lower courts. AryanÂs  lawyers have repeatedly argued that no drugs were found on him but the special anti-drugs court that denied him bail last week said he knew about charas hidden in his friend Arbaaz Merchant’s shoe, and this amounted to Âconscious possession.Â

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