The bail plea of Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan has been rejected by the Mumbai sessions court today. The court has also rejected the bail pleas of two other co-accused Arbaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha.
Though the sessions court has rejected the bail of three in the cruise drug case, the detailed order of the sessions court's judgement is yet to be accessed.
The rejection is being seen as a big setback for the doughty legal team of Aryan Khan, despite they going to all lengths the law books have provided.
As the session's court has declined bail to Aryan, for SRK, the legal option remains are knocking at the HC door.
Aryan's Team Bet On Liberty, Non-Seizures
The legal team of SRK's son betted big on the bare details in the Mumbai cruise drug bust case like non-seizure of any narcotics from Aryan, non-corroboration of Khan's WhatsApp chat and no antecedent.
NCB didn't recover any contraband or money from Khan, which could've been used to purchase drugs. There are no WhatsApp chats about drugs. His liberty need to be restored and this is a fit case for bail to be granted," argued Advocate Amit Desai during the last hearing.
NCB Bets On Criminal Conspiracy
On the contrary, holding the fort for the NSB, ASG Anil Singh had been arguing it as a case of 'criminal conspiracy' from day one. The prosecution has invoked section 29 of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act against Aryan Khan.
During the arguments in the sessions court earlier, ASG had said, "I have come with a case of conspiracy. In one case if there are 15-20 people involved and it is a case of conspiracy and possession with one accused, then section 37 (of NDPS Act) kicks in." And then stringent conditions against the grant of bail will apply."
SC Guidelines On Bail
As per the SC, the basic principles governing the grant of bail are the following.
- Existence of prima facie case against accused.
- Gravity of allegation.
- Position and Status of Accused.
- Likelihood of fleeing and repeating the offence.
- Possibility of tampering with the evidence and obstructing the Courts.
- Criminal antecedents of the accused.
What Went Against Aryan?
It seems the slapping of conspiracy section on Aryan Khan, and given that the investigation into the Mumbai Cruise drug is still unravelling, the Whatsapp chats with Arbaz Merchant, where Aryan had used narcotic lingo, and seizure of intermediate contraband from Merchant seem to have gone against the granting of bail to SRK's 23-year-old son.