[Aryan Khan case] Alleged supplier linked to Arbaaz Merchant granted bail

A Special Court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act recently granted bail to Shivraj Ramdas Harijan, who was alleged to be supplier in the cruise ship drug case..Harijan was arrested on October 10, 2021 and remanded to NCB custody for a day, after which Harijan was sent to judicial custody..The Narcotics Control Bureau had claimed that Harijan was the supplier to Arbaaz Merchant, who was a co-accused in the case and a friend of Khan.However, while granting bail, Special Judge VV Patil noted that the NCB failed to bring on record any “cogent evidence” in that regard..The NCB’s allegations were that, based on Merchant’s statement, when Harijan had been intercepted, it had recovered 62 grams of charas from him.Advocate Sandeep Sherkhane argued that the quantity was non-commercial and hence the rigours under Section 37 of the NDPS Act were not applicable. He further argued that Merchant's statement had been retracted, hence it could not be relied upon. .Special Public Prosecutor AM Chimalker argued that though statement of accused could not be used during trial, it can be used at the stage of investigation..The Judge noted that barring a statement by Merchant under Section 67 of the NDPS Act, which had also been retracted, “there is no prima-facie evidence on record to show that applicant committed offence as alleged by the prosecution.”Therefore, the NCB’s contention cannot be accepted that Hairjan is a peddler and supplied contraband to Merchant..On the aspect of conspiracy, Judge Patil noted that, considering the material placed on record, it could not be said that there is conspiracy and abetment as alleged..Judge Patil took into account that Harijan is a permanent resident of Mumbai with no criminal antecedents to his discredit.With similar conditions as imposed on the other 15 accused in the case, Judge Patil granted bail to the 16th accused in the case..[Read order]