Aryan Khan bail hearing: Arguments to continue today

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Aryan Khan by one more day While the defence concluded its argument the Narcotics Control Bureau will present its side today At the same time a fivemember vigilance team from the NCB began its probe into the allegations of bribery against NCBrsquos Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede in the drugsoncruise caseAryan Khanrsquos lawyer told the HC that his arrest in the drugsoncruise case was a direct infringement of constitutional guarantees and the counsel of a coaccused claimed conspiracy charge was invoked as an afterthought On Wednesday judges heard the bail applications of Aryan Khan Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha where the defencemdashMukul Rohatgi Amit Desai and Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukhmdashconcluded their arguments Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh will argue for the NCB today The HC will take up the bail pleas after 230 pmNCBrsquos Deputy DG Gyaneshwar Singh at Mumbai airport on Wednesday PicSameer MarkandeIn another development the NCB started a vigilance investigation against Wankhede It will be led by the agencyrsquos Deputy DirectorGeneral Gyaneshwar SinghThrough an affidavit and a video message Prabhakar Sail a panch witness and the personal bodyguard of another witness Kiran P Gosavi has accused Wankhede of corruption Earlier a court had declined to issue a blanket order restraining other courts from taking cognisance of the affidavitldquoOur fivemember team reached Mumbai today and we have started our probe related to the allegations levelled in the affidavit We have taken certain documents from the Mumbai NCB office and the process of recording the statements of people concerned has just started Since it is a sensitive matter I cannot reveal each and every detailrdquo said DDG SinghSameer WankhedeAn NCB officer said ldquoWe have recorded Sameer Wankhedersquos statement but we want to record the statement of the complainant Both the witnesses are not traceable The inquiry would not be complete without Sailrsquos statementrdquo The official said NCB teams could not find Sail at his places ldquoSail should appear before us not before any other agency as it is an independent probe set up after his claimsrdquo Sail has two more days to appear before the vigilance teamThe antidrugs ordered a vigilance probe after Sailrsquos affidavit talked of extortion by Gosavi and one Sam DrsquoSouza from actor Shah Rukh Khanrsquos manager Pooja Dadlani to let Aryan Khan go Sail also said that he had overheard a conversation where Gosavi talked of a demand of Rs 25 crore before settling at Rs 18 crore Sail said he heard that R8 crore would go to Wankhede and the rest will be distributed among the others During Aryan Khanrsquos bail hearing on Tuesday the NCB alleged that Dadlani was trying to influence the witnesses by meeting themThe NCBrsquos vigilance team will also record Sailrsquos statement on his allegations that he was asked to sign on a blank paper by WankhedeMalik fires more missilesStepping up his attacks state minority minister Nawab Malik has shared the nikahnama of Wankhede claiming that he is a Muslim and had married a Muslim woman as per Islamic rituals His father is also a Muslim as the nikahnama carries his name as Dawood Wankhede said the ministerldquoI want to make it clear that the issue I am exposing of Sameer Dawood Wankhede is not about his religion I want to bring to light the fraudulent means by which he has obtained a caste certificate to get an IRS job and has deprived a deserving Scheduled Caste person of his futurerdquo Malik saidMaulana Mujammil Ahmed from Lokhandwala mosque who performed Wankhedersquos nikah in 2006 told the media that the officer had categorically told that he was a Muslim ldquoOtherwise I wouldnrsquot have read the prayers for nikah He clearly said that he belongs to a Muslim family and his father is also a Muslim as mentioned in the nikahnama which was performed in front of witnesses but now he is lyingrdquo he told the pressFamily defends officerWankhedersquos family also came out in his defence with his father Dyandev Wankhede sharing a certificate under the Special Marriage Act and saying he doesnrsquot know why his name was mentioned as Dawood in the nikahnamaWankhedersquos wife Kranti Redkar Wankhede too back her husband She said ldquoMy motherinlaw was a Muslim and Sameer used to love her so much just for her happiness nikah was performed and everything written on the nikahnama was as per my motherinlawrsquos wish Sameer was already in service before this nikah so there is no question on his caste certificate which the minister is claiming His grandfather had it 50 years agordquo Redkar told midday