[Aryan Khan] Mumbai Court allows return of passport, cancellation of bail bond; NCB opposes discharge

A Mumbai court on Wednesday allowed the return of passport and cancellation of bail bond of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan which was deposited with the court as a condition for his bail in the cruise ship drug case..After hearing the parties today, Special NDPS Judge VV Patil allowed return of his passport and cancellation of bail bond after taking note of the fact that Khan was given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the chargesheet.The Court, however, did not grant the relief of ‘discharge’ as was sought by Khan in his application after NCB took strong objection to the same.Khan had deposited his passport with the Special Court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in compliance with the condition imposed by the Bombay High Court when it granted bail to him in the cruise ship drug case on October 28, 2021.Justice Nitin Sambre while granting bail to Khan, had directed him to surrender his passport before the Special Court as soon as he was released on bail.Subsequently, in May of this year, Khan was given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).He then approached the Court seeking release of his passport..Senior Advocate Amit Desai appearing for Khan also pressed for an order to the effect that Khan has been formally ‘discharged’ from the case.“NCB reply is clear. It puts an end to everything. They say that there is no complaint against accused as there is no material evidence against the accused and that there is no pending investigation against Khan,” Desai contended.However, Special Public Prosecutor Advait Sethna appearing for NCB, vehemently opposed the word ‘discharged’ being used in the order.He said that while the agency had no objection to the cancellation of bail bond or return of passport, the agency has issue about using the word ‘discharge’ in the order.“Whatever we had to say, we have said in the reply in the most fair and transparent way. But in their own application there is no prayer for discharge, this is not even a discharge application”, he argued.Desai however pointed out that a discharge application would lie only in the event a person is chargesheeted, which was not the case here; as no chargesheet had been filed against Khan in the present case.“This is not a discharge application but don’t go into the details of this but ultimately it is a discharge from case only,” Desai contended.Sethna, however, persisted that the court pass appropriate orders regarding passport and bail, as those were in the court’s custody.Eventually after much deliberation, Khan’s lawyer Rahul Aggarwal informed the Court that the prayer seeking formal discharge will not be pressed for.Accordingly, the Court proceeded to allow the application for return of passport and cancellation of bail bond..Khan was taken into custody by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 2, 2021 after the NCB raided a cruise ship en route to Goa from Mumbai. Khan was arrested from the terminal to the cruise.He was arrested for alleged contravention of Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.NCB has alleged that it seized 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone MD, 21 gram charas and 22 pills of MDMA ecstasy.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate RM Nerlikar had rejected his bail application, holding that it was not maintainable as only the special court of sessions was entitled to hear the bail plea.Subsequently, Khan moved the special court seeking bail, which came to be rejected on October 20.He then moved the High Court in appeal which granted him bail on October 28, 2021.On May 27 this year, Khan was given a clean chit by the NCB.