Aryan Khan's bail order accessed; Bombay HC states 'hardly any evidence of conspiracy'

The Bombay High Court on Saturday released the detailed bail order of actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha in the alleged drugs-on-cruise case. In the 14-page order, Justice Nitin Sambre said that there is no concrete evidence to convince the court that all accused persons with common intentions agreed to commit an unlawful act and repudiated the conspiracy angle.

The court stated that no drugs were recovered from Aryan Khan's possession. Accused nos. 2 (Arbaaz) & 3 (Munmun) found to be in illegal possession (direct/indirect) of drugs which are covered under the provisions of NDPS Act. Such quantity of drugs which was seized from the possession of Accused nos. 2 & 3 if independently considered, is a small quantity is not disputed fact," it added.

It said that WhatsApp chats recovered from Aryan's phone suggest nothing objectionable could be noticed that Aryan and Arbaaz Merchant or all three applicants along with other accused in "agreement have a meeting of minds and have hatched conspiracy committing the offence in question."

"There is hardly any positive evidence on record to convince this Court that all accused persons with common intention agreed to commit an unlawful act. Rather the investigation carried out till this date suggests that Applicant/Accused nos 1 & 2 were travelling independent of Applicant/Accused no 3 and there was no meeting of minds on the aforesaid issue," Court said.

No evidence against Aryan Khan & 2 others accused of conspiracy

"Having regard to the material brought on record by the Respondent on the issue of conspiracy, this Court prima facie has not noticed any positive evidence against the Applicants on the said issue. This Court is of the opinion that the claim put forth by the Respondent that Applicants should be considered to have the intention to commit an offence under the NDPS Act, having found in possession of commercial quantity, in the backdrop of case of hatching conspiracy is liable to be rejected," the Court said.

The Bombay High Court allowed bail to Aryan Khan and his co-arrestees- Arbaaz Merchant and Mumunn Dhamecha on October 28 with conditions. The three were arrested by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 following a raid on the Cordelia cruise ship docked at Mumbai port. According to the bail condition, the accused have attended the NCB Mumbai office each Friday, they have to surrender their passport and should not attempt to influence the witness among others.