Cruise ship drug case: PIL in Bombay High Court challenging discharge of Aryan Khan withdrawn

A petitioner on Wednesday withdrew his plea before the Bombay High Court challenging the acquittal of Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, from the cruise ship drug case. [Pritam Desai v. Union of India & Ors].Khan had been given a clean chit by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in May this year, which was challenged by Pritam Desai, a law student, by way of a public interest litigation (PIL). His lawyer, Advocate Subodh Pathak, contended that it was only courts, and not the investigation agency, that had powers to grant a clean chit to an accused.Pathak pleaded that the SIT ought to have submitted whatever evidence it had before the concerned judge, who would have then taken a call to discharge the accused. The lawyer also raised apprehension that investigating officers may on their own start taking decisions on the status of an accused based on the evidence they collect..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice SG Chapalgaonkar asked Pathak what his client’s locus was to challenge such decision of the agency. “The agency investigated, they did not have enough evidence against an accused. They gave a clean chit. How is your client harmed by that? What is his locus and grievance?” the Bench asked.Pathak submitted that similar instances may be replicated in other cases, which was a grievance of his client. The Court, however, was not satisfied by this argument.“As a law student, he should try and file PILs for good causes. You either satisfy us how does this PIL lie, what is your client’s locus, or we will impose costs. This seems like a publicity interest litigation,” the Court said. After taking instructions from the petitioner, Pathak made a statement that he was withdrawing the PIL..Khan was taken into custody by the NCB on October 2, 2021 after the agency raided a cruise ship en route to Goa from Mumbai.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 and was granted bail on October 28, 2021.On May 27 this year, Khan was given a clean chit in the case by the NCB.