The hearing on the bail plea of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan who has been arrested in a drugs case, continued in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Aryan Khan, argued before a single Bench of Justice Nitin Sambre that no person should be detained without being informed about the grounds of arrest and the person should have the right to consult a lawyer of his choice.
Mr. Rohatgi contended that the arrest memo did not give the correct grounds for the detention and said Article 22 of the Constitution was more important than Section 50 (person arrested to be informed of grounds of arrest and of right to bail) of The Code of Criminal Procedure.
Counsel pointed out that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had the phone of Aryan Khan but it was not mentioned in the remand application, and so Aryan Khan did not have access to the chats. He said the NCB chose to mislead about what was recovered from Aryan Khan.
Mr. Rohatgi said the remand application was misleading as if large quantities of drugs were recovered from Aryan Khan. He concluded his arguments seeking bail for Aryan Khan.
Senior advocate Amit Desai, representing co-accused in the case Arbaaz Merchant (also lodged in the Arthur Road Jail), argued that the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was a draconian legislation and there was a need to apply mind.
He also mentioned that on Tuesday, the Special NDPS court granted bail to two guests who were on the same cruise which was raided on October 1. Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu were both charged under relevant Sections of the NDPS Act for consumption, possession and conspiracy. Rajgaria was accused of possessing 2.4 grams of cannabis.
The lawyer of another co-accused Munmun Dhamecha (lodged in Byculla Jail) will argue on Thursday.
