Aryan Khan to stay in jail, Mumbai court rejects bail request in drugs-on-cruise case

A Mumbai court on October 20 rejected the bail request filed by Aryan Khan, son of megastar Shah Rukh Khan, in the drugs-on-cruise case for which he and seven others were arrested earlier this month. The court also rejected the bail requests of two others, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant.

With the rejection of their pleas by the sessions court, the accused are likely to approach the Bombay High Court to seek a bail.

Notably, Aryan and five others arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are currently in the general barracks of Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison.

Aryan, 23, has been booked under various sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) for alleged possession and consumption of banned substances.

Also Read | Drugs case: Aryan Khan speaks to parents via video call from jail; gets Rs 4,500 via money-order

During the hearings over his bail plea, the defence counsel had argued that no drugs were found in possession of Aryan during the raid. The NCB, however, claimed that it has found “shocking and incriminating” material through his WhatsApp chats which point towards a case of drug trafficking.

Earlier, a metropolitan magistrate’s court had on October 9 rejected the bail plea of Aryan, along with those of Dhamecha and Merchant, on the grounds that it was “non-maintainable”.

The three were among those arrested from the Goa-bound Cordiella Empress cruise ship on October 3.

Aryan spoke with his parents via video call from inside the prison last week, news agency PTI reported. He also received Rs 4,500 though money-order sent by his father, an official reportedly said.