'WhatsApp chats not proof enough to show accused supplied drugs to Aryan Khan'

A special court here while granting bail to Aachit Kumar last week in the drugsoncruise case said merely on the basis of WhatsApp chats it cannot be gathered that he had supplied drugs to coaccused Aryan Khan the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Arbaaz MerchantThe court in its detailed order a copy of which was made available on Sunday also raised questions on the veracity of the Narcotics Control Bureaus NCB panchnama records said they were fabricated and seemed suspiciousSpecial Judge V V Patil designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act granted bail to 22yearold Kumar on SaturdayThe court in its detailed order observed that except for the WhatsApp chats with Aryan Khan there is no evidence to show Kumar was indulging in such activitiesMerely on the basis of WhatsApp chats it cannot be gathered that the applicant Kumar used to supply contraband to accused No 1 and 2 Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant especially when the accused No 1 with whom there are WhatsApp chats has been granted bail by the High Court the order saidAlso Read Mumbai Crime Trio held for stealing cellphones from Shah Rukh Khans fans outside MannatAryan Khan and Merchant who were arrested in the cruise drugs case on October 3 were granted bail by the Bombay High Court last ThursdayThe special court also noted that there was no evidence against Kumar to connect him with any of the other accused in the caseThe panchnama is fabricated and was not prepared on the spot and therefore the recovery shown under the panchnama is suspicious and cannot be relied upon the court saidThere is no evidence on record showing that the applicant Kumar supplied drugs to accused No 1 Aryan Khan or to anybody and therefore the applicant is entitled to be released on bail the order saidKumar the accused no 17 in the case was arrested on October 6 by the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB based on the statement given by coaccused Aryan Khan and Arbaaz MerchantThe NCB had claimed to have recovered 26 grams of ganja from Kumars residence According to the antidrugs agency Kumar used to supply ganja and Charas to Aryan Khan and MerchantThe NCB argued that it had evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats between Kumar and Aryan Khan which show they were dealing in drugsKumars advocate Ashwin Thool had argued that the 22yearold was innocent and all allegations against him were false and baselessThe court in its order noted that though the NCB has claimed Kumar was a peddler it has not stated a single occasion where Kumar acted as a peddlerIt also held that Kumar was put in illegal detention for a day as he was detained from his house on October 5 but was shown as arrested only on October 6The court further said there was nothing on record to show that there was any conspiracy between Kumar and Aryan Khan and when Aryan Khan has been granted bail then on the ground of parity Kumar can also be releasedThe court while granting bail to four others who were linked to the event management company Caneplus Trading Pvt Ltd which had organised live shows on the Cordelia cruise noted that there was nothing placed on record by the NCB to show they had financed or harboured any offenders on the shipThe four accused were Samir Sehgal Gopalji Anand Manav Singhal and Bhaskar AroraOf the total 20 people arrested in the case 14 persons have been so far granted bailAryan Khan Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were granted bail last week by the Bombay High Court while the remaining were granted bail by the special NDPS courtThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever