Mere presence on ship doesn’t prove Conspiracy, Bail granted to 2

Swarna Shukla

Published On: October 28, 2021 at 11:00 IST

The Special Court granted Bail to two men who were arrested concerning the cruise drug raid case by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), saying that mere presence on the ship doesn’t amount to conspiracy.

The Court added that the role of Aryan Khan and others in the case is very different from the two persons arrested besides them.

Special Judge V V Patil granted Bail to Odisha Residents Avin Sahu and Manish Rajgariya, who was booked for consumption of ganja twice on the ship and possessed 2.4 gm of ganja, respectively.

The Court believed that NCB failed to show any connection between the two persons arrested and the other co-accused.

The Special Court stated, “In the present case, Respondent (NCB) failed to produce on record any evidence to show that he was either in contact with any of the Accused or that in any way he is connected with the co-accused.”

However, the NCB seized Sahu’s phone, so far it didn’t submit regarding his chats.

The Court agreed with the argument of Rajgariya’s Lawyer Taraq Sayed, who noticed that the panchnama drawn by the NCB didn’t mention 2.4 gm ganja was recovered.

The Court said that merely because the Bail Pleas were of Aryan and two others were rejected doesn’t mean that the same analogy can be applied to the two Accused as well, there was no Prima-Facie material that they were part of any larger network and their case could be distinguished from that of others.

Also Read: Overview of Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985

Cruise Drugs case: Aryan Khan’s Bail hearing reserved till October 20

NCB Court finds material in WhatsApp Chat of Aryan Khan & 2 others

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