Drugs case: Munmun Dhamecha moves special court for discharge in matter

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Fashion model Munmun Dhamecha, one of the accused in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise episode, on Tuesday moved a special court here seeking discharge from the case, and pleaded for parity with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan, who was also arrested but later given a clean chit by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Dhamecha was arrested along with Aryan Khan and others in the case by the NCB in the first week of October in 2021 on charges of possession, consumption and trafficking of drugs. Both were granted bail on October 28, 2021, by the Bombay High Court.

The drug law enforcement agency in May 2022 filed a chargesheet in the case, but did not name Aryan Khan and five others due to lack of sufficient evidence. However, Dhamecha was named an accused in the NCB document.

On Tuesday, Dhamecha filed an application before a special court through her advocate Kashif Ali Khan Deshmukh, seeking to be discharged from the case.

In the application, Dhamecha claimed she was implicated in the case.

As per the NCB, a packet containing contraband substance was recovered from Dhamecha's luggage.

Dhamecha, in her plea, said when she boarded the Goa-bound cruise there was security check and screening, in which no incriminating substance was found in her possession.

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She pleaded for parity with Aryan Khan who was granted a clean chit by the NCB.

That in the case of Aryan Khan, who was arrested due to being in the company of co-accused Arbaaz Merchant, from whom a recovery of 0.6 grams of charas was made, Khan was discharged by the NCB through their chargesheet, the application said.

The court is expected to hear Dhamecha's plea in due course of time.

Discharge is a stage that comes after a chargesheet has been filed in a case, but before charges are framed by the court concerned against an accused. Under this legal remedy, an accused is entitled to be discharged from a case if the evidence provided to the court is not sufficient to prove the offence.

The high-profile case stemmed from the NCB's raid at Mumbai's International Cruise Terminal when it had claimed to have seized drugs from a Goa-bound ship.

The central agency had initially named more than a dozen persons as accused in the case.

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