The Bombay High Court , in its detailed order granting bail to actor Shah Rukh Khan 's son Aryan Khan and two others in the drugs-on-cruise case, has said that prima facie it has not found any positive evidence against the accused to show that they had conspired to commit an offence.A single bench of Justice N W Sambre had on October 28 granted bail to Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and a fashion model Munmun Dhamecha in the case on a personal bond of Rs one lakh each. "There is hardly any positive evidence on record to convince this court that all the accused persons with common intention agreed to commit unlawful acts," the court said while rejecting the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) argument that the case of all the accused ought to be considered together.Rather the probe carried out till date suggests that Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant were travelling independently of Munmun Dhamecha and "there was no meeting of minds' on the alleged offence, the 14-page order said. Merchant and Dhamecha were found to be in illegal possession of drugs, the quantity of which is considered a small quantity. "Merely because the applicants were travelling on the cruise, that by itself cannot be termed as satisfying foundation for invoking provisions of section 29 (conspiracy) of the NDPS Act," the court said.Justice Sambre further said that even if the case of the prosecution is considered, the maximum punishment is not more than one year for such an offence.Aryan Khan had walked out of the Arthur Road prison on October 30. As per the bail conditions imposed by the high court, he is required to appear before the NCB office in south Mumbai every Friday to mark his presence and shall not indulge in similar offences or tamper with evidence in the case.Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha have also been directed to not leave the country without permission from the trial court and to inform the NCB if they intend to leave Mumbai.

Source: Economic Times November 20, 2021 22:23 UTC