Mumbai: Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road prison on Saturday, October 30, nearly four weeks after he was held on October 3 during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
In a case that has seen pitched media attention, Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau and booked under sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs and conspiracy and abetment.
Aryan’s counsel has argued in court that no drugs were found on him and that there was no conspiracy. The NCB has relied on WhatsApp chats to attempt to prove that the 23-year-old was a regular consumer of drugs.
While the role of the NCB itself has come under the scanner, amidst larger conversation on what many believe is the targeting of a Muslim star, the case has come under additional spotlight with sensational allegations levelled against the investigating officer Sameer Wankhede, by the Nationalist Congress Party. Two witnesses, one of them Prabhakar Sail, has also claimed to have been forced to sign on a blank paper. Meanwhile, a controversial witness whose selfie with Aryan Khan – taken hours after his arrest – went viral was detained in Pune.
Aryan came out of the prison shortly after 11 am, a day after a special court issued his release memo. A large crowd of Shah Rukh Khan’s fans had gathered outside the prison since morning. A sizeable media contingent was also present.
Besides local police, an SRPF team was also present and barricades were put up outside the prison to control crowds, a police officer told the news agency PTI.
The news agency ANI reported that jail officials had opened the bail box outside Arthur Road jail at about 5:30 am today to gather bail orders.
Mumbai | Jail officials opened the bail box outside Arthur Road Jail at about 5:30 am today to gather bail orders. A physical copy of Aryan Khan’s bail release order was also kept inside, yesterday.
Aryan will be released this morning, in connection with drugs-on-cruise-case. pic.twitter.com/Kb8JCjeAHf
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2021
Immediately after walking out of the prison, he entered a waiting car and drove to his house Mannat in suburban Bandra, 12 km away.
He was granted bail by the Bombay high court on Thursday. Shah Rukh Khan’s actor friend Juhi Chawla stood as surety Aryan before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the NDPS Act.
The high court on Friday afternoon made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan and his co-accused in the case, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.
The relief to the trio came just a day before the high court was scheduled to take a two-week break for Diwali.
In the five-page order, signed by Justice N.W. Sambre, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.
Also, they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence, the HC said.
The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week.
So far, 20 people have been arrested in the case and two of them were granted bail by the special NDPS court earlier this week.
(With PTI inputs)