Cruise ship drugs case: Mere presence can not prove involvement in conspiracy, says court in bail order

Merely because he was present on a cruise ship from where drugs were allegedly seized, it can not be said that he was "in conspiracy" with the other accused, the special NDPS Act court here has said while granting bail to Avin Sahu. Sahu was arrested along with actor Shah Rukh Khan's on Aryan and others after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and allegedly seized drugs on October 2.

Mumbai:Merely because he was present on a cruise ship from where drugs were allegedly seized, it can not be said that he was "in conspiracy" with the other accused, the special NDPS Act court here has said while granting bail to Avin Sahu.

Sahu was arrested along with actor Shah Rukh Khan's on Aryan and others after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast and allegedly seized drugs on October 2. The role attributed to Sahu was different from that attributed to Aryan, special judge for cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act V V Patil said.

The court granted bail to Manish Rajgaria and Sahu on Tuesday. The detailed order on Sahu's plea became available on Wednesday; that on Rajgaria's plea was yet to be made available. Aryan Khan's bail plea is being heard by the Bombay High Court after the special court refused him relief earlier.

As per the NCB, Sahu and Rajgaria were among the "guests" on the cruise ship. Special public prosecutor Advait Sethna had contended that all the arrested accused (20 until now) were connected to each other, and offenses under sections 28 and 29 (punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy) of NDPS Act were clearly made out.

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But Sahu's lawyer Sana Raees Khanthe argued that her client had been "falsely implicated". The judge noted in the order that the NCB failed to produce any evidence to show that Sahu was in contact with the other accused.

"He has not disclosed the name of any accused or peddlers, he has no connection with drug peddlers," the court said. The prosecution "failed to point out any circumstances to show the nexus of the applicant (Sahu) with any co-accused to prima facie make out the ingredients of the conspiracy," the special court said. "Merely because applicant was present on the cruise, he can not be said to be (having) acted in conspiracy with co-accused," it added.

The prosecution had contended that the court's reasoning while rejecting the bail applications of Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, holding that there was an element of conspiracy, was applicable here too. But the court disagreed.

"There is no evidence against the present applicant in respect of conspiracy. Therefore, merely because bail applications of co-accused are rejected, bail application of the present applicant can not be rejected by applying same analogy," the judge said.

PTI