Eyebrows were raised in legal circles when a special court hearing the bail application of superstar Shahrukh Khan’s son, Aryan and two others, reserved its order till October 20th. This effectively means that that the three of the accused nabbed in connection with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raid on a Cruise ship earlier this month, remained in prison till that time. What is being considered unusual is that Courts normally do not reserve orders in a bail application case, particularly after the arguments of both the prosecution and defense are over. The practice of reserving the order is mostly witnessed in matters where the trial has ended and the Court has to give its final judgment. In the present instance, the learned Judge must be having compelling reasons for reserving his verdict and it is not certain that he may do so, one way or the other, on October 20th itself, since he could be pre-occupied with other important legal matters as well.
There is every possibility that the prosecution would have time to also file a fresh application to oppose the bail plea citing new evidences that have been unearthed in this period. The higher judiciary must monitor cases where there is an inordinate delay in reaching an inference by the Sessions Court. Mr Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, one of the most distinguished Judges of the Supreme Court had made his famous ruling more than four decades ago where he said that bail and not jail should be always considered when hearing matters pertaining to criminal charges. It is nobody’s case that if Aryan Khan is indeed guilty of breaking the law in the eyes of the court, he should go unpunished. However, when the NCB has been unable to unearth any drugs from his person, he is eligible for being considered for bail. Noted senior Advocate and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Mr Vikas Singh has opined that the NCB had perhaps made a mistake in arresting him and was now attempting to strengthen its case subsequently. Whether that is true or not, only the court can decide. However, there are many loopholes in the entire raid which was conducted while not adhering to the accepted procedures. Even the former NCB Chief, Mr B.V.Kumar, has gone on record to indicate that the investigation was flawed. The Cruise ship should have been seized and not allowed to sail after the preliminary arrests and if the need had arisen to stop it, the help of the Navy and Coast Guard should have been taken. The hurry in which the NCB officials announced the arrest, cast several doubts on how the case has unfolded. The Cabins which were occupied by the accused persons should have been sealed after a thorough search. The most appalling aspect of the matter is that on day one itself, two private persons, one a BJP activist and the other a private detective, described as informers, were seen physically escorting Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant to the NCB office in Mumbai. This was indeed shocking and now it turns out to be that the private detective is absconding. The sloppy probe though defended robustly by the Additional Solicitor General, Anil Singh, has come under fire from even political parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) whose leaders including Sharad Pawar and Nawab Malik have attributed motives to the central agency.
There is also a talk in political circles that the matter has been allowed to linger on so that the investigations into the Lakhimpuri Kheri incident does not get adequate coverage in the national media. For instance, on Thursday when the Uttar Pradesh police took the Union Minister’s son for Nishan Dehi (Renactment of the scene of crime), the matter was reported only in the passing while there was total spotlight on Sharukh Khan’s son. The prosecuting agency while opposing the bail has maintained that in a case under the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), the accused cannot take the plea of being innocent unless proven guilty. It implies that anyone who has been booked under this Act is to be presumed guilty from the time he has been taken into custody till the Court finds him Not Guilty. The NCB has also come under fire for making small recoveries from various accused in Mumbai, particularly those connected with Bollywood to get magnified publicity. In the process, it has been not able to concentrate on its mandate of detecting international drug cartels and making huge hauls. The short point is that if Aryan Khan has infringed the law as is being made out to be as per the prosecution charges, the court must take cognizance. If it is a case of just harassment and there is an oblique purpose behind the arrest, the prosecuting agency should be rapped on the knuckles, and strict action should be taken against those involved. The Court’s ruling is final and the rule of law has to be respected under all conditions.