Congress Politicians Question Legal Procedures That Won Star Kid Aryan Khan Bail in Drugs Case
08:10 GMT 29.10.2021 (Updated: 10:40 GMT 19.07.2022)
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Aryan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was arrested by India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on 3 October in a raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast.
A day after euphoria accompanied the bail of star kid Aryan Khan, top Congress politicians have questioned the legal process that led to the conditional release order on Thursday, nearly three weeks after the arrest.
On Friday, P. Chidambaram, a senior Congress parliamentarian and noted lawyer, slammed the NCB for making "a shocking statement".
"The NCB argued that in drug cases the time-honoured principle that 'every person is presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law' does not apply - a shocking statement," he said.
Who is responsible for making these wild and illegal propositions — the counsel or the client (NCB) or the Ministry concerned or the Law Ministry or the government as a whole?
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 29, 2021
"The NCB also argued that in drug cases 'custody in jail is the principle, bail is exception' - another shocking distortion of law," said Chidambaram, who is a senior lawyer himself.
Another senior Congress politician and acclaimed lawyer, Kapil Sibal, decried the high decibel media attention given to the case, saying it contrasted with thousands of cases where those awaiting trial remain behind bars.
Supreme Court
— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) October 6, 2021
There was a time when there was no YouTube , no social media , the Supreme Court acted suo motu on the basis of news in the print media
It heard the voice of the voiceless
Today when our citizens are run over and killed
The Supreme Court is requested to act
Supriya Shrine, a Congress spokesperson, accused the NCB of 'witch-hunting' and said that the drug agency had gone into decay.
Glad Aryan Khan got bail but the malaise within the NCB is deeply worrying. Its conduct in the last one year, the witch-hunting and harassment of soft targets, reputation assassination all smack of institutional decay and overreach.
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 28, 2021
An independent witness in the case has also alleged that Aryan was arrested by Wankhede after Bollwyood superstar Shah Rukh Khan had failed to pay extortion money to the top cop.
Aryan Khan's arrest has been dominating national media since early October. He was taken into custody by the NCB from a party aboard a cruise ship. The probe in the case has become controversial after allegations were levelled against the investigating officer, Sameer Wankhede, for extorting money from Bollywood stars.
