Last year’s ‘drugs on cruise’ case, in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was imprisoned and spent 22 days in jail, was cleared by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday.
The NCB’s chargesheet, which was filed in a Mumbai court, stated that Aryan Khan and five others were not named owing to a “lack of solid proof.”NCB’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) discovered no proof that Aryan Khan was involved in a wider drug plot or an international trafficking ring, and that the raid in which he was apprehended had significant flaws.
The SIT, led by Sanjay Kumar Singh, re-examined the case and determined that there is insufficient evidence to pursue it. It was formed after allegations that Aryan Khan was involved in extortion and efforts to extort money arose.
“The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on the investigation carried out by SIT, a complaint has been filed against 14 persons under various sections of the NDPS Act. Complaint against rest sid persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence.”
According to the SIT of NCB, Vikrant, Ishmeet, Arbaaz, Ayan, Gomit, Nupur, Mohak, and Munmun were the main accused who were found in possession of narcotics.
“With the exception of Aryan (Khan) and Mohak (Jaiswal), all of the accused were discovered to be in possession of narcotics,” the NCB said.
Aryan Khan’s lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, said his client’s arrest and 26-day detention were unlawful, especially since drugs were not found in his hands.
“There was no evidence of any kind. There was no material of any nature of the violation of any law kuch less the NDPS Act. We are happy that the SIT investigated the case in an objective manner and decided not to file a complaint against Aryan Khan for lack of sufficient evidence.”
The SIT stated that, contrary to the claims made by NCB’s Mumbai unit, Aryan Khan was never in possession of drugs. As a result, there was no need for him to take out his phone and check his messages.
Khan was not mentioned in the discussions as being a member of any international gang. The raid on the yacht was not videotaped as required, and the drugs seized from various suspects detained in the investigation were listed as a single find.
Aryan Khan was arrested under sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of the NDPS Act regarding possession, consumption and purchase of drugs. The NCB had claimed that WhatsApp chats of Aryan Khan indicated discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement of drugs and several code words were being used.