Shah Rukh Khan’s Son Aryan Khan Gets Bail After 21 Days in Jail – Highlights From Thursday’s Bail Hearing

Big relief for Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha as they get bail in the drugs case after spending over 20 days in the Arthur Road Jail. Here are the highlights from Thursday's bail hearing in the Bombay High Court.

Aryan Khan Bail Plea Hearing Highlights From Thursday: Aryan Khan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday, October 28. Big relief for Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha as the three got bail in the drugs case. While the full bail order is yet to come, the three kids are expected to walk out of the Arthur Road jail tomorrow, or on Saturday. While seeking bail for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan‘s son in the Bombay High Court on Thursday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi gave a rejoinder to NCB’s response. On behalf of Aryan, Rohatgi said, “There were 1,300 people on the cruise. I did not know anybody else except Arbaaz and Achit. Their (NCB’s) case is — it is no coincidence and therefore it is a conspiracy. Conspiracy is a meeting of the minds. It cannot be based on coincidence. You (NCB) have failed to prove meeting of minds with these eight people and therefore called them independently. There is absolutely no material for the purpose of the conspiracy.”

ASG Anil Singh, who argued for NCB, countered Rohtagi’s argument and said, ‘Aryan is not a first-hand consumer but regular consumer since last 2 years. The court heard Aryan’s bail plea for three days in a row before granting him bail. During arguments on Wednesday, Aryan’s lawyer Amit Desai argued that the NCB didn’t conduct any blood test on Aryan and therefore, no claims of consumption of drugs can be established on his part. Calling it a ‘trap’ by the NCB, the senior advocate told the court, “If the NCB officers went there to find people consuming drugs, they can do blood testing of all those. There is no blood test where consumption is proved.”

Amit Desai further told the court that even though nothing has been recovered from Aryan Khan and his medical test was not conducted by the NCB, the matter can at best be taken as a ‘case of consumption’, not as a ‘case of conspiracy.’ He said in the court that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception. Now it is arrest is the rule and bail is the exception.”

The 23-year-old star son was arrested on October 3 after a drugs raid at a party by Narcotics Control Bureau officers in disguise. He was lodged at the Arthur Road Jail along with another accused Arbaaz Merchant. Whereas, Munmun Dhamecha was at Byculla women prison. A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the Mumbai drugs case in which Aryan and the other two kids were arrested.

Aryan Khan’s bail plea was rejected by the special court on October 20 in the case following which his judicial custody in the matter got extended till October 30. Khan approached the Bombay High Court for an urgent bail hearing. Meanwhile, NCB’s independent witness KP Gosavi was arrested by Pune police in connection with a 2018 cheating case. In 2019, Pune City Police declared Gosavi as a wanted man. He was missing since then and was only spotted during the cruise raid as an NCB witness. On October 14, the police issued a lookout circular against him.

KP Gosavi is also is an independent witness in the Aryan Khan case, who had been absconding since his viral selfie with Shah Rukh Khan’s son went viral. He also recently tried to surrender at a police station in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

Check Updates from Aryan Khan’s bail plea hearing on Thursday: