Drugs case: What Aryan Khan's lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said in court during bail hearing

NEW DELHI: Former Attorney General of India,

Mukul Rohatgi

, on Tuesday appeared for Aryan Khan in drugs on cruise case and made a strong plea for his bail in the Bombay high court.

The high court heard Rohatgi's arguments for bail to Aryan Khan and adjourned the hearing for tomorrow at 2.30 pm.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) opposed Aryan Khan's bail application and said that he can influence the process of investigation and the agency needed more time to unearth the international cruise ship drug racket.

However, Rohatgi firmly stated that there was no recovery of drugs from Aryan and no proof of consumption and said that it was a fit case for bail.

Here's what Mukul Rohatgi said in high court:'No occasion to arrest Aryan Khan'
NCB was present in some strength at the terminal. They had some information and were there to apprehend. My client and Arbaaz were apprehended before they could board the ship. Nothing was recovered from Aryan Khan and they have nothing to show he consumed anything either. There was no occasion to arrest my client, short and simple.

'NCB officers not police officers'
We have raised the question in several petitions that even though these officers are not police officers, they exercise police powers. So they say they have the power to arrest. But otherwise say they are not police officers.

'Aryan Khan was invited to the cruise as a special guest'
He was invited by Pratik Gaba who was like an organiser. He invited accused 1 Aryan and accused 2 Arbaz Merchant. Both were invited by the same person. They both landed up together at the cruise terminal. Possession of somebody else cannot be my possession unless there is control and knowledge… What somebody else had in their Shoe is not my concern.

No recovery, no consumption ...
There was no recovery from Aryan Khan and there was no medical examination to show that there was consumption. Arbaaz Merchant had 6 gms of charas which was recovered from his shoes. Merchant is denying it. If there are a group of friends who plan to smoke up there is a meeting of minds. But the plan here was aborted. They were arrested before. The penalty is of consumption.

Tofan Singh case
Rohatgi referred to last year's Supreme Court judgment in "Tofan Singh" case which held that NDPS officers are police officers and confessions given to them are inadmissible in evidence. The statement recorded by the NDPS is not admissible in court as NCB officials are officers, not the police. There was a statement recorded under Section 67 which was retracted on the next date.

'No prior conviction in this case'
What was recovered was small, 6 gms. The sizes are small, medium and large. This small amount is not enough to keep Aryan Khan in custody. Many others have been found with intermediary and commercial quantity. There is no Section 27A against Aryan. In his case Section 37 cannot kick in because Sections under 37 do not apply. But the sessions court has held 37 and conspiracy. There is no prior conviction in this case.

'WhatsApp chats are from 2018'
As for the WhatsApp chats, they were of the time period of 2018. None of the chats are from the cruise. There is no case where those chats with “1, 2, 3” have anything to do with this saga. Those chats, we will have to see in trial, to be proved and result of that proof. The chats have nothing to do with the current scenario and then to use general phrase like conspiracy is not right apart from that there is no recovery.

'These are young boys; they can be sent to rehab and they need not undergo trial'

The legislative intent is that if you consume or caught with possession of small quantity and if you go in for rehabilitation there is immunity from prosecution. The "legislative intent" behind the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act under which Aryan and others were arrested was reformation in cases involving small quantities of drugs. The Act intends that young persons be treated as victims and not as accused

'WhatsApp chats do not pertain to the cruise or conspiracy'

There is no panchnama for seizure of phones. The WhatsApp chats do not pertain to the cruise or conspiracy, those are old chats. Those are to some people and supposedly to some international persons. This is in the past and that is just supposed to show the conspiracy. There is no case that Aryan knew the other 20 people except for Merchant. Aryan is not admitting to consumption or use. The only thing is conscious possession and that is also small quantity.

'Why this boy has been sent to 20 days in jail?'
There is no consumption, no possession... Why this boy has been sent to 20 days in jail? Maximum is Aryan Khan can be connected to Arbaaz Merchant and A17(Aachit Kumar) as per the prosecution. I have a better case than all these cases I am citing because there is no recovery from Aryan Khan.