The Narcotics Control Bureau on Friday cleared actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a case related to the alleged seizure of drugs on a cruise ship.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, deputy director general (operations) of the Narcotics Control Bureau, said that all the accused persons in the case, except Khan and another person identified as Mohak Jaswal, were found in possession of narcotics.
“...A complaint against 14 persons under various sections of the [Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances] Act is being filed,” Singh said in a press note. “Complaint against rest 06 persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence.”
The official said that the agency’s Special Investigation Team dealt with the case in an objective manner. “The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied,” he added.
On October 2, Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant, model Munmum Dhamecha and five others were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau after a raid on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai.
During the raid, the agency claimed to have seized 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of mephedrone, 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and Rs 1.3 lakh from the ship.
On October 28, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, observing that there was no evidence of a conspiracy among them. The order said that Khan did not carry any drugs during the raid, despite the Narcotics Control Bureau claims in October that he had been found in “conscious possession” of contraband substances.
On March 2, several media reports had said that the the agency’s Special Investigation Team had not found any evidence that Khan was part of an international drug trafficking syndicate. However, at the time, Singh had refuted the reports and said that Khan was not cleared of any charges.
On Friday, senior lawyer Mukul Rohtagi, who represented Khan, said that he was happy that the agency acted in a professional manner, reported NDTV.
“I am very relieved and so must be my clients, including Shah Rukh Khan,” he told NDTV. “Ultimately, truth has prevailed.”
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the development was a “tight slap” to those who tried to “demonise Maharashtra” by misusing central agencies.
“Truth prevails,” she tweeted. “Now waiting for CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] to submit its closure report on [actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide].”
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