Paperwork keeps Aryan in jail for another day

MUMBAI: Hours after the Bombay HC gave its operative part of the bail order at 3.30pm Friday setting the surety amount at Rs 1 lakh, hopes for the same-day release of Aryan

Khan

from jail dwindled as bail formalities, which included furnishing of a surety and other procedures, took time. So on his 26th day in a cell and his hopes pinned on paperwork, Aryan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, had to contend with one more night in a jail barrack. Juhi

Chawla

stood surety for Aryan who must now follow 14 strict bail conditions.

Justice Nitin Sambre had on Thursday granted bail to Khan (23), his friend Arbaaz Merchant (26) and Munmun Dhamecha (28) in the case registered against them and 17 others by the NCB following its raid on a cruise liner on October 2.

Within an hour of the HC order being uploaded, at around 4.30pm, Juhi Chawla, a co-star of his father in some films, arrived at the sessions court to stand as surety for Aryan, in custody since his October 3 arrest. Dressed in a white salwar with bluish grey dupatta, her eyes twinkling despite a black mask as she obliged court staff with selfies, she signed the Rs 1 lakh bond for the bail and Khan’s liberty. After her arrival, Khan’s legal team had apparently an hour’s window before it could submit the release order—to be placed in a sealed cover—at the drop box outside Arthur Road jail, where he has been housed since October 8. Aryan, whose bail formalities from the sessions court end then got completed, missed the jail deadline of 5.30pm and had to stay one more night behind bars.



His lawyer Satish Maneshinde said, “In view of the system and procedural lacuna, he will have to spend one more night in jail awaiting his freedom.” “There is a procedural lacuna in our system that even though we got the HC bail order 3.30pm and though we are in the electronic age, we have to follow the prevailing archaic system of taking the physical copy from HC to the special NDPS court, where the designated judge, after examining the authenticated copy, accepts the surety and his or her solvency certificate if any, issued by a tehsildar,” said Maneshinde. Khan’s team had come prepared with Chawla’s solvency certificate to show she was solvent for Rs 1 lakh. The judge accepted her as surety.

Following his order pronouncing bail, Justice Nitin Sambre on Friday set out 14 stringent bail conditions including immediate surrender of passport, a weekly three-hour attendance at the NCB office, no statements to the media, the requirement to join in the investigation whenever called upon to do so and not to delay the trial “in any manner” once it starts.


Following Covid protocols, after verifying Chawla’s identity and other documents, cops posted outside gate number six of sessions court permitted her to enter the premises. Accompanied by lawyers from Aryan’s legal team, she made her way to the special NDPS court No 44 on the first floor. Introducing Chawla to court, Maneshinde said she has been professionally associated with Shah Rukh Khan and knows Aryan since he was born. Chawla stood in the witness box at the front of the courtroom. Special judge

V V Patil

, who had last week rejected Aryan’s bail plea, asked her for her name and who she was appearing for. “Juhi Chawla Mehta,” the actor said. The court verified her documents that included her Aadhar card and passport. Following this, Chawla made her way to the third floor where further formalities were completed in the registrar’s office. She was made to sign certain documents. A huge crowd of litigants, lawyers and court staff gathered outside the office to catch a glimpse of the actor. Lawyers of other litigants waiting for their formalities to be completed expressed their displeasure. Chawla then went back to the courtroom.

The court registry prepared the bail bond after seeing the special court acceptance of her surety.