News Analysis India

Tag: Munmun Dhamecha

  • No evidence against Aryan Khan, WhatsApp chats not objectionable: Bombay HC on cruise drugs case

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI: There is no evidence of any conspiracy between Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha to commit drug-related offences and there is also nothing objectionable in the WhatsApp conversations between them, the Bombay High Court said in its bail order released on Saturday.

    The high court uploaded the detailed bail order in the drug case and stated that the trio did not conspire to commit the offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The court on October 28 had granted bail to all the three accused.

    “Prima facie there is no evidence against Aryan Khan and the other two accused. The court also rejects the hatching the conspiracy plan claimed by the NCB by this trio,” the order stated.

    The court rejected the NCB’s argument that since Section 29 of the NDPS Act pertaining to conspiracy was applicable, rigours for bail under Section 37 of the NDPS Act would apply and the cumulative quantity recovered should be considered.

    The court noted that no drug was found in Aryan’s possession while the quantity recovered from Arbaz and Munmun were “small” quantities under the NDPS Act. In such a scenario, in order to invoke offence of conspiracy against the accused, there has to be positive evidence about an agreement to do an unlawful act or to do lawful act by unlawful means and such agreement must precede with meeting of minds, the court said.

    But there was no such material in the instant case, the court held. As per the presented material, it showed that Aryan and Arbaz were travelling together while Munmum had an independent travel plan. The court observed that merely because Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were travelling in the same cruise, that by itself cannot be a foundation for the charge of conspiracy.

    The accused were not even subject to a medical examination to determine whether at relevant time they had consumed drugs. The court also stated that the confession statement of the accused presented by the NCB could not be cited as evidence considering the Supreme Court observations in the Tofan Singh versus State of Tamil Nadu.

    Therefore, the NCB claim of the accused admitting their crime must be rejected. Aryan was taken into custody by the NCB on October 2 after the agency raided a cruise ship en route to Goa from Mumbai. He was arrested from the terminal to the cruise.

  • Drugs-on-cruise case: Accused Munmun Dhamecha moves HC seeking modification of bail conditions

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Fashion model Munmun Dhamecha, an accused in the drugs-on-cruise case, on Monday approached the Bombay High Court seeking modification of certain bail conditions which were imposed while releasing her on bail last month.

    Dhamecha has requested the high court to permit her to attend the Narcotics Control Bureau’s (NCB) office in Delhi, where she stays, instead of Mumbai where she has no residence.

    Dhamecha was granted bail by the HC on October 28 along with co-accused Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, and Arbaaz Merchant.

    One of the bail conditions was that the accused had to attend the Mumbai office of the NCB every Friday between 11 AM and 2 PM.

    The accused were also directed not to leave Mumbai without informing the Investigating Officer (IO) and give the itinerary for the same.

    In her plea filed in the HC through advocate Kashif Ali Khan Deshmukh, Dhamecha said she was a resident of Madhya Pradesh who had moved to Delhi for work.

    The plea said Dhamecha does not have any residence in Mumbai.

    “The above condition imposed will have a drastic effect on her professional life as well as her social life, as she would be required to travel to Mumbai every week,” the plea said, adding that it would be “highly impractical and unworkable” for Dhamecha.

    Dhamecha has also contended that if the conditions have to be judiciously followed, then she will have to communicate each and every movement to the NCB as she would constantly be shuttling between MP and Delhi, which is outside the territorial limits of Mumbai.

    Her plea states that considering she is a resident of MP and Delhi, there would be no specific itinerary that can be communicated to the IO of the case.

    Dhamecha has sought relaxation of a bail condition wherein she is required to inform the IO and submit the itinerary.

    The plea is likely to be taken up for hearing by the HC next week.

  • Cruise drugs case: Arbaaz Merchant released from jail 

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Arbaaz Merchant, who was arrested by the NCB in the cruise drugs case on October 3, was released from the Arthur Road prison in central Mumbai on Sunday, October 31, 2021, three days after he was granted bail by the Bombay High Court.

    The high court had on Thursday allowed the bail plea of Merchant along with that of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha, who were also arrested in the same case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

    While Aryan Khan was released from the Arthur Road jail on October 30, Dhamecha walked out of the Byculla women’s jail here around 11 am on October 31.

    Merchant was released from jail later in the day after completion of all the legal formalities.

    Talking to reporters outside the jail, his father Aslam Merchant said, “Strict conditions have been set by the high court while granting bail to him. But being an advocate, I will ensure that these conditions are complied with. We like to follow the rules and regulations…He will not do anything that may go against him.”

    On Friday afternoon, the high court had made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

    In the five-page order, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.

    They will also have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence.

    A special court in Mumbai had on Saturday granted bail to alleged drug peddler Aachit Kumar and eight others, who were arrested by the NCB following the raid on the cruise ship.

    Of the 20 persons arrested by the NCB after the raid, as many as 14 have got bail so far.

  • Cruise drugs case: PIL in SC seeks CBI probe, direction to Centre to frame witness protection scheme

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the Mumbai drugs-on-cruise case alleging that there has been interference in the ongoing probe of the Narcotics Control Bureau in the matter.

    The case involves Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and others as accused and has triggered a series of controversies and put the bureau and its officials under the spotlight.

    The public interest litigation (PIL) has also sought a direction to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to frame the national witness protection scheme as recommended in various reports of the Law Commission.

    Aryan Khan, along with co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and fashion model Munmun Dhamecha, was granted bail on Thursday by the Bombay High Court, 25 days after he was arrested during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

    Lawyer M L Sharma, in the PIL filed in his personal capacity, has referred to the controversies raised by Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik against Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and others in the case, and sought a CBI probe into the entire case, including the alleged interference into the ongoing investigation of the NCB.

    Besides seeking CBI probe, the plea also sought a direction for providing “protection to all the witnesses” to the instant case.

    The PIL also raised the legality of a complaint lodged with the Mumbai Police by a local lawyer using the alleged disclosure of a bribe saga by one of the witnesses, Prabhakar Sail, in the case.

    Raising a legal question for adjudication by the apex court, the PIL asked whether a minister may continue to hold his constitutional office even after “interfering” with the investigation and “maligning” the investigation officer.

    “No one is allowed to interfere in the criminal justice systems. The State and state minister are duty bound to protect the Constitution and not to interfere in the investigation and criminal process,” it said.

    “Witnesses are liable to be protected and not to be arrested and tortured to give favourable statements favouring the accused persons,” the PIL said.

    The NCB had busted an alleged drugs party on the Goa-bound Cordelia Cruise ship at mid-sea on October 2 and 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, were arrested in the case.

    Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, conspiracy and abetment.

  • Drugs-on-cruise case: Arbaz Merchant released from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail

    By ANI

    MUMBAI: Arbaz Merchant, who was arrested in the drugs-on-cruise case, was released from Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai on Sunday.

    Speaking to reporter here, Aslam Merchant, father of Arbaz Merchant, said, “I am immensely happy, his mother is the happiest person that our son has come home. Our prayers and blessings came true. We’ll obey all the bail conditions religiously.”

    On Thursday, Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who are accused in the drugs-on-cruise case, were granted bail by the court following the three-day hearing in the case.

    The court asked all three bail applicants – Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, Munmum Dhamecha- to appear before the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai office every Friday, between 11.00 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence.

  • Cruise drugs case: Model Munmun Dhamecha released from jail

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Fashion model Munmun Dhamecha was released from the Byculla women’s jail here on Sunday, three days after she was granted bail in the cruise drugs case in which she was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3.

    The Bombay High Court had on Thursday granted bail to her along with co-accused Aryan Khan, the son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and Arbaaz Merchant.

    On Friday afternoon, the HC made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

    The release order of Dhamecha was put in the bail box outside the Byculla jail late Saturday evening, after the bond process was completed.

    Dhamecha’s advocate Ali Kaashif Khan on Sunday said, “She has been released from the jail after completion of all the legal formalities. We are now going to file an application before the NCB seeking permission to allow her to go Madhya Pradesh, as she hails from there.”

    Her co-accused Arbaaz Merchant, who is lodged at the Arthur Road jail, is yet to be released.

    Aryan Khan, who was also lodged in the Arthur Road jail following arrest in the case, returned home on Saturday.

    The HC had in its detailed order asked Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha to appear before the NCB’s Mumbai office every Friday between 1100 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence.

    On October 2, the NCB had raided the Goa-bound cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and claimed to have seized drugs onboard.

  • Court denies NCB further custody of Aryan Khan, hearing of bail plea on Friday

    By Online Desk

    Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, has been sent to judicial custody by the Magistrate’s court in the drugs-on-cruise case. His bail plea will be heard at 11 am on Friday.

    The Esplanade court denied further remand by NCB before it sent the accused to judicial custody. The NCB sought the custody of Aryan Khan Arbaaz Merchant till Monday citing recovery of 2.6 grams ganja from them and name of the supplier, reported LiveLaw. 

    Aarchit Kumar, alleged to have supplied drugs to Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant, was remanded to NCB’s custody till October 9.

    Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and Munmun Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on Sunday in connection with the seizure of banned drugs onboard a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

    Earlier this week, the NCB had told the court that “shocking and incriminating” material recovered in WhatsApp chats of Aryan and two others arrested in connection with the case showed international drug trafficking.  

    Aryan’s lawyer had claimed drugs were not recovered from the possession of his client. “Prima facie investigation conducted by the NCB reveals that there is incriminating material in the form of WhatsApp chats and so on that clearly shows the nexus with the arrested accused (Aryan Khan and two others) with suppliers and peddlers on a regular basis,” the NCB had said in its remand note.

    Officials of NCB Mumbai conducted a raid on the Cordelia Cruise on the way from Mumbai to Goa on October 2, 2021. A total of 8 persons, including Aryan Khan, were detained after the raids on Saturday night.

    The accused were arrested in connection with the seizure of 13 grams of cocaine, 5gms of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy), and Rs 1,33,000 at the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai

    Officials of NCB Mumbai conducted a raid on the Cordelia Cruise on the way from Mumbai to Goa on October 2, 2021. A total of 8 persons, including Aryan Khan, were detained after the raids. The accused were arrested in connection with the seizure of 13 grams of cocaine, 5gms of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA (ecstasy) and Rs 1,33,000 at the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai

    After the getting tip of the rave party, 22 officials of NCB booked tickets as normal passengers on the cruise by paying Rs 80,000 per passenger. These officials entered the cruise in plain clothes and conducted the raid and took the video of the people who were in possession of drugs on the ship. The code word for the rave party was RP-PCR. 

    A source said that the Mumbai police had also got a tip about this same party but they could not afford to buy this high-cost ticket for the cruise party and were not sure about the large-scale drug racket and probable big names.