NCB acquits Aryan Khan, 14 charged in drugs case

|HT|

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday exonerated Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and five others as it charged 14 people in the drugs case related to the raid on the yacht Cordelia in Mumbai on October 2. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of NCB found no evidence that Aryan Khan was part of a larger drugs conspiracy or an international trafficking syndicate, and that there were several irregularities in the raid during which he was arrested. The SIT, headed by Sanjay Kumar Singh, re-looked at the case and has concluded there is not enough evidence to pursue it. It was constituted after allegations surfaced that Aryan Khan may have been implicated and attempts to extort money were made.

“SIT carried out its investigation in [an] objective manner. The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on the investigation carried out by SIT, a complaint [charge sheet] has been filed against 14 persons under various sections of [the] NDPS [Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances] Act. Complaint against [the] rest six persons is not being filed due to lack of sufficient evidence,” NCB said in a statement. The agency said when the raid happened except Aryan Khan and another person, the rest of the accused were found in possession of drugs. Lawyer Satish Maneshinde, who represented Aryan Khan in the case, said his client’s arrest and 26-day custody were unjustified particularly when drugs were not found in his possession. “...there was no evidence of any kind. There was no material of any nature of the violation of any law much less the NDPS Act. We are happy that [the SIT]...investigated the case in an objective manner and decided not to file a complaint [charge-sheet] against Aryan Khan for lack of sufficient evidence.”

The contrary to the allegations of NCB’s Mumbai unit, some of the key findings of the SIT included that Aryan Khan was never in possession of drugs. Hence, there was no need to take his phone and check his chats. The chats did not suggest Khan was part of any international syndicate.

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