The Narcotics Control Bureau gave Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan a clean bill of health on Friday in the drugs case. They said that no drugs were found on him and that there was no evidence that he was involved in the conspiracy with Arbaaz Merchant or any other accused person.
The NCB did not put Aryan and five other people on the chargesheet that was sent to the court of special judge for NDPS cases in Greater Mumbai two days before the 60-day extension was set to end. The chargesheet also named 14 other people as suspects.
At a press conference, NCB Director General S. N. Pradhan admitted that former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede did not follow the rules when he did the first investigation. He said, “WhatsApp chats should be checked in real life” (found on phone). Courts have made it clear that a WhatsApp chat on its own is not worth anything. You can talk about anything on WhatsApp, but if you don’t have physical proof to back it up, it can’t be taken as proof.
The 6000-page NCB chargesheet, which was filed on Friday, was based only on what witnesses said, the drugs that were found, related documents, and proof of money transactions. In October of last year, the NCB team arrested Aryan Khan and 19 other people during a raid at a rave party on the Cordellia cruise off Mumbai. Aryan had to stay in jail for 27 days, even though no drugs were found in his possession.
In its own report, the Special Investigation Team said, “It seems like the investigating officer had a reason to put Aryan Khan in the drug case. The SIT said that neither Aryan nor Arbaaz Merchant had ever said that the six grammes of charas that were taken from Arbaaz Merchant were meant for Aryan.
All of these new facts are completely different from what the NCB said about Aryan Khan in October press releases and in court. At that time, the prosecutor told the sessions court that Aryan and Arbaaz travelled together “with the same goal” and that Aryan bought drugs from Arbaaz.
In a request for remand from October 4, the NCB said that Aryan was connected to a “international drug trafficking chain” through mobile chats, pictures, and other things. NCB also told the court that in their statements, both Aryan and Arbaaz said that they were carrying drugs.
People still remember seeing dozens of policemen holding Aryan by the hand and taking him to court like he was a dangerous criminal. A young man was kept in jail for 26 days, but eight months later, the NCB admitted that they had found no evidence against him.
How did NCB’s position change so drastically? The head of the Bureau says there were problems with the first investigation, and the officer who did it could be in trouble. But will Aryan ever get those 26 days back that he spent in jail? NCB will have to take the blame for this big mistake.
On Friday night, during my most popular show, “Aaj Ki Baat,” I showed what the former zonal director Sameer Wankhede said about Aryan Khan and how he spread false rumours about Aryan through his junior, Gyaneshwar Singh. Because of what Wankhede said, Aryans were called names like “nashedi” and “ganjedi,” which mean “drug addicts.” There were funny memes about him, but on Friday, Aryan got a clean bill of health. He was bad-mouthed for no reason.
From what Pradhan, the head of the NCB, said on Friday, one thing is clear. Sameer Wankhede did bad things to Aryan and tried to frame him in the NDPS case without good reason. NCB has now fixed its mistake by clearing Aryan Khan, but the question remains: What will happen to the NCB officer who put a young man in jail for 26 days and lied to the court? Will Sameer Wankhede and those under him get in trouble?
Wankhede is already being looked into by Vigilance for giving a fake caste certificate and taking money from other people. The Centre has asked the right authority to “take appropriate action” because this investigation was not done well. Wankhede works for the Indian Revenue Service, which is part of the Ministry of Finance.
On Friday, the head of the NCB, S. N. Pradhan, said that the officers who did the first investigation will be punished. Mukul Rohtagi, a senior lawyer, said, “The only thing I regret is that Aryan was arrested so quickly. He didn’t need to be arrested. No drugs were found on him, on his clothes, or in his pockets. The arrest was wrong, illegal, and made for no reason. It was wrong for it to happen. A young man had to spend 25 days in jail with bad people, which could have an effect on his mind. In general, the issue is now over. The young man is going to have a good life. There is no longer anything bad about his reputation. His honour is still good.”
I said this in October’s “Aaj Ki Baat,” and I’m saying it again now. Because he is the son of Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, Aryan had to spend 26 nights in jail. Now, there is no longer any doubt that Aryan is not guilty. He did not use drugs, and drugs were not found on him either. After putting Shahrukh Khan in the wrong, Sameer Wankhede and his team of officers need to be asked what they thought he would do. I’m saying this because I heard in the news that the superstar was asked for a big bribe. This needs to be looked into in depth.
Also, the “independent” witnesses that Wankhede and his team brought up when they arrested Aryan should be looked into because they have a strange history. Because of these kinds of witnesses, thousands of young people end up in jail, and their parents do everything they can to get them out.
I’m worried about what would have happened to a common man’s son if he had been wrongly accused like Aryan. I’m sad that Aryan had to go to jail for 26 days for no reason of his own, and I’m mad that some NCB officers called him an international drug dealer. What wrong did Aryan Khan do? Was it wrong to be the child of a famous person? Was it his fault that his father was rich and well-known?
The real bad guy is the officer who tried to make himself look like a hero by making Aryan Khan look like a bad guy. When a young man was locked up, those NCB officers who knew the truth but didn’t say anything even though they knew it were guilty. Who will make up for the 26 days Aryan spent in jail? For making his family miserable and Shahrukh Khan cry for 26 days? There can be no compensation, and there can be no one to blame.
Aryan’s case raise serious questions about our entire criminal justice system. Will something be done so that an arrogant officer can’t send an innocent person to jail? Will the courts punish people who make up cases against other people?