NCB should introspect on why he was hastily arrested for no cause: Mukul Rohatgi on clean chit to Aryan Khan

Reacting to the clean chit given by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to Aryan Khan in the cruise ship drugs case, the lawyers who represented him feel that a “young man’s honour” stands vindicated..The NCB chargesheet filed on Friday left out names of Khan, Avin Shahu, Gopal ji Anand, Samir Saighan, Bhaskar Aroda and Manav Singha in the much hyped drugs case of 2021..Bar & Bench spoke to lawyers who had represented Khan in the case for which he remained in jail for three weeks since his arrest on October 3 before walking out on October 30, 2021..Former Attorney General for India and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who had represented Khan in his bail plea before the Bombay High Court, said that he was happy that truth had prevailed. “His honour has been vindicated. NCB should introspect as to why he was hastily arrested for no cause," Rohatgi said. .Senior Advocate Amit Desai was part of the team that represented Khan and others seeking their bail in the case following their arrests.Desai was glad that the legal principles had been rightly applied when deciding the question of the filing of the complaint. “Also glad that the department has had the courage and objectivity to do the right thing. Else sometimes, one sees that once an arrest, occurs a chargesheet follows as a matter of course. It is such situations which must make us ponder over the use of the power of arrest,” he underlined..Advocate Satish Maneshinde, who was part of the defence team along with Rohatgi and Desai, said that Khan’s arrest and detention for 26 days was unjustified, particularly when he was not found in possession of any drugs. “There was no evidence of any kind; there was no material of any nature which was in violation of any law, much less the NDPS Act,” he said.Maneshinde was happy that the Special Investigation Team under Sanjay Kumar Singh investigated the case in an objective manner and decided not to file a complaint against Khan for want of sufficient evidence.“God is Great. Satyameva Jayate,” the lawyer remarked..Advocate Sandeep Kapur, Partner at Karanjawala, the law firm that briefed the defence lawyers in the case, said,“This has been our case since day one, that he did not have any possession of drugs. We are happy to know that truth has prevailed. We are also happy for Mr Shahrukh Khan and his family.”Advocate Sana Raess Khan, who secured bail for co-accused Sahu, said,“Sahu’s case was a clear case of false implication and I am happy that his innocence is reflecting in the chargesheet filed in this case. I am elated that he is exonerated of all the charges as there was no incriminating evidence on record to connect Avin with any nexus,” she underscored..The case pertained to recovery of 13 grams of cocaine, 5 grams of mephedrone MD, 21 gram charas and 22 pills of MDMA by the NCB on Cordelia Cruises' Empress ship, venue of a purported rave party. .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.The NCB had invoked various provisions — Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act — dealing with the different aspects of narcotic or psychotropic drugs..Read timeline of the case against Aryan Khan and others here.