Bail hearing of Aryan Khan resumes; NCB counsel argues he is a regular drug user

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is back in court for the bail hearing. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the NCB, said that Khan is a regular consumer of drugs and "he used to consume it for the last few years."

Singh argued that Khan should not be given bail as on-record statements from Arbaaz Merchant says he and Khan were going to consume drugs in the cruise. Six grams of charas were seized from the Merchant. "Arbaaz told the investigating officer that he had drugs in his shoes. Arbaaz admitted that both (he and Aryan Khan) were going to consume it on the cruise," reported NDTV.

The NCB lawyers referred to eight previous judgements to argue that in a conspiracy case, "there can only be circumstantial evidence". He stated that there cannot be direct evidence in conspiracy because only conspirators will know it. Singh cited the Supreme Court judgment in 'State of Orissa v Mahimananda Mishra' to substantiate his claim.

The defence had argued that Aryan Khan's statements were forced. The ASG said that the statement is "admissible until proven wrong". He added that it is wrong to link the "use" of drugs with "consumption". "The definition of 'use' is that it can be used for anything other than personal consumption".

Aryan Khan's legal team said that their client was "not present" during the raid, had no cash to buy drugs, and didn't have any on him. "The allegation of illicit trafficking is inherently absurd. This boy who has nothing, he was not even on the vessel. It is an absurd and false allegation," said Aryan's lawyer Amit Desai.

The ASG responded by saying that there are sections to take action if drugs were not found from you but found from others in commercial quantity.

Khan's lawyers had argued yesterday that the NCB found no evidence to suggest that he was about to use drugs. They added that the court knows how people are forced to make these statements referring to the NCB claim Aryan Khan had "admitted he was about to use charas that was found on Arbaaz Merchant".