Aryan Khan to move Bombay HC after Special NDPS court rejects his bail plea

Mumbai: An hour after a special court in Mumbai denied Aryan Khan bail in the drugs case filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), his lawyer Satish Maneshinde has moved the Bombay High Court against the order. The court will most likely hear the case at 10.30 am tomorrow.

The court on Wednesday rejected Aryan Khan's bail plea. Shah Rukh Khan's son will stay in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail. It has already been 17 days since Aryan, the son of Bollywood superstar and Gauri, was detained by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in connection with a drug bust on a cruise liner off the Mumbai coast. The actor's son will now have to file his bail application in Bombay High Court.

Special Judge V V Patil, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, rejected the bail pleas of Aryan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant, fashion model Munmun Dhamecha. The trio is currently in judicial custody. While Aryan and Merchant are lodged at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, Dhamecha is lodged at the Byculla women's prison here.

In his bail plea, Aryan's lawyer had said the NCB's contention that his client was involved in conspiracy and illicit drug trafficking was absurd, and pointed out that there was no recovery of drugs made from him.

After his plea was rejected last week, the 23-year-old was sent to Mumbai's Arthur Road Central Jail. He spent Dussehra in jail and reportedly had an emotional video conversation with his parents over the past weekend. All the undertrials in the Arthur Road jail are allowed to speak to their family via video call once or twice a week, keeping Covid protocols in mind.

He was arrested by the NCB on October 3 during a raid conducted on the cruise ship off Mumbai coast on its way to Goa. The Bollywood actor's son was sent to judicial custody by a magistrate court in Mumbai when the court denied his bail plea.

Earlier on Tuesday, an official told ET that the central agency in its possession has a series of group and individual chats of Khan which are “incriminating in nature”. However, some of these chats may not be connected to the seizure made on the cruise ship.

“There are chats where he has acknowledged what he has received, also chats discussing abused substances. Post his disclosure, there have been fresh arrests and raids. So, the chats became the starting point of the probe, helping us string the conspiracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, news agencies on Tuesday reported that actor Shah Rukh Khan has decided to pause work on his 2 forthcoming films - 'Pathan' and 'Tiger 3' - till a decision is reached in the case.