Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly hired a new lawyer Amit Desai to represent his son Aryan Khan, who is embroiled in a Mumbai drugs case. Aryan’s bail was rejected thrice under lawyer Satish Maneshinde’s watch.
According to a report in India Today, Desai is the same lawyer who got Salman Khan acquitted in the 2002 hit-and-run case and will represent Aryan in the next hearing on October 13.
The report also claims that Desai had represented Salman for his bail hearing in 2015 and had challenged a lower court’s order sentencing the actor to five years of rigorous imprisonment in the case. After Desai defended Salman in May 2015, the actor was granted bail.
Desai also appeared in court in Mumbai on October 11 for Aryan’s case.
“The man is already inside the prison for a week. Bail hearing does not have to depend on investigation. I am not arguing bail, I am only arguing for a date,” said Desai.
“Just because of their administrative reason, the liberty of someone should not be curtailed. Their investigation may continue. So far as this boy [Aryan Khan] is concerned, the maximum sentence can only be one year. There is no material against him and no substance was found on him. So, if they say that they need time for another week then look at the fact that it is only for a one-year sentence,” said Desai, according to India Today.
On October 8, Aryan’s plea was rejected by the Mumbai magistrate court and a hearing was held in a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NPDS) court on October 11. Tomorrow, a bail plea hearing has been set for Aryan.
Aryan was arrested after a drug bust by Narcotics Control Bureau and is now in jail, with many in Bollywood and India shocked at the development. The 23-year-old will remain in Arthur Jail until his bail plea is heard.
NCB has sought seven days to file a reply in connection with the cruise ship drugs party bust, but a hearing has been set for tomorrow.
