Drug case: Mumbai court rejects bail applications of Aryan Khan and others

In a setback for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, a Mumbai court on Friday rejected his bail plea as well as of two others who were among the eight arrested following the raid on a party on a luxury cruise ship.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nerlikar rejected the bail of Aryan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha, upholding the contentions of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Lawyers for the accused told the media that though the detailed reasoning for the order will come later, they plan to apply to the Sessions Court for bail on Monday. During the court hearing, Aryan’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said that his client was from a respectable family, had roots in society, held an Indian passport and would not abscond, according to Indian news sites.

At present, Aryan Khan and other male co-accused were sent to the Arthur Road Central Jail on Friday afternoon. The two female accused shall be lodged in the Byculla Women’s Jail. For the last one week since their detention and subsequent arrest, they were all kept in the NCB lockup in south Mumbai. They will remain in the respective jails until they are granted bail, even as their lawyers and the NCB advocates engage in a fierce legal battle.

Additionally, on Friday morning all the eight accused youngsters underwent a medical test at the Sir JJ Hospital before they were taken to the jails by the NCB under tight security. | Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan being taken from a court to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office, in Mumbai, Thursday, October 7.

The court has said that the case will now be heard by special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court. As many as 18 arrests have been made in the cruise ship raid case so far. A total of 17 have been produced before the court and the 18th person is yet to be produced before the Mumbai court.

The day of the bail hearing was also Aryan’s mother’s 51st birthday, and celebrities took to social media to greet and support her.

Taking to her Instagram Story, Zoya Akhtar shared a picture of a lioness with her cub and wrote, “Happy Birthday Gauri. May you stay strong. Stay brave. Stay you.”

Designer Manish Malhotra shared a selfie on his Instagram Story in which he poses with Gauri who can be seen dressed in a stylish black-and-white outfit. “Happy birthday dearest @gaurikhan strength and love to you,” he wrote.

Taking to Instagram, director Farah Khan wished Gauri saying: “The strength of a mother is second to none! The prayers of a parent can move mountains & part seas.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the strongest mother and woman iv personally witnessed this past week.. @gaurikhan here s wishing you the best birthday present today.”