Granting bail to 22-year-old student Aachit Kumar in the ‘drugs on cruise’ case, a special Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court on Saturday, 30 October, pointed out that mere WhatsApp chats were not enough to establish that Kumar was a supplier to Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchantt.
The 22-year-old was accused of supplying drugs to Aryan Khan and arrested on 6 October.
According to LiveLaw, Kumar was booked under Sections 8(c) read with 20(b)(ii)(A) (possession of small quantities of drug), 27a (consumption), 28 (attempt to commit offence) and 29 (conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act.
According to The Indian Express, Special Judge VV Patil granted bail to nine accused on Saturday. Further, in the bail orders of five of the nine accused – Kumar as well as the four people linked to an event management company – the court said there was no evidence to prove that they were part of a conspiracy.
WHAT DID THE COURT SAY?
The court observed that even though the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed that Kumar is a supplier, it failed to bring on record specific evidence regarding the same, the report added.
"Except WhatsApp chats with accused number 1 (Khan), there is no other evidence to show that the applicant was indulging in such activity. Merely on the basis of WhatsApp chats, it cannot be gathered that applicant used to supply contraband to accused numbers 1 and 2 (Merchant), especially when the accused no. 1, with whom there are WhatsApp chats of (the) applicant, is granted bail by Hon’ble High Court."Special NDPS Court, according to The Indian Express
WHAT DID AACHIT KUMAR’S LAWYER ARGUE?
Appearing for Kumar, Advocate Ashwin Thool argued that his client knew Aryan Khan only socially and hand no contact with him in more than a year, reported LiveLaw.
Further, the advocate pointed out that Kumar was studying at a reputed university in London and had been in India only because of the lockdown.
Submitting that he was neither on the cruise nor connected to any accused, Thool cited Kumar’s building’s CCTV footage to allege illegal arrest. According to LiveLaw, the advocated also pointed out discrepancies in NCB’s seizure panchnama.
ARYAN KHAN’S BAIL
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, 28 October, granted bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchantt, and Munmun Dhamecha. The three were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) following a raid onboard a luxury cruise off the coast of Mumbai and were in jail since 8 October.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and LiveLaw.)
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