No bail today for Aryan Khan as arguments deferred to tomorrow

The hearing of the bail plea for three accused in the Cordelia cruise ship drugs bust case will continue at 2:30 PM tomorrow the Mumbai court has announced. This means that Aryan Khan and his co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha will not be receiving bail today. This is another setback for the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has been in custody since October 8 and refused bail twice before by courts.

The arguments in the bail hearing today were conducted by special advocate Amit Desai, Mukul Rohatgi and Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh arguing on behalf of the accused. Desai stated that not only were drugs recovered from Khan personally but that there was no conspiracy proven by the Narcotics Control Bureau. The alleged WhatsApp chat transcripts between the accused could not prove conspiracy - at worst they could be accused of "intent to consume" the lawyer said.

While arguing for Arbaaz Merchant, Desai claimed that the court had been misled on certain aspect of the arrest and sections under which the accused were charged. In fact two others in the case had gotten bail despite having similar case replies while the accused had been denied bail repeatedly he said. Mr Deshmukh, representing accused Munmum Dhamecha, said she had no connection with the recoveries made during the searches on the cruise.

The special anti-drugs court that denied Aryan Khan bail last week said he knew about drugs hidden in his friend Arbaaz Merchant's shoe, and this amounted to "conscious possession". Arbaaz Merchant was also arrested along with Aryan and 18 others. Tomorrow Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh will reply on behalf of the anti-drugs agency Narcotics Control Bureau.