The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic’s Substances (NDPS) court on Thursday granted 60 days to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to file a chargesheet in the drug cruise case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan.
On October 3, 2021, Bollywood Aryan Khan and others were arrested onboard the Cordelia Cruise in an alleged drug case. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had asked for an extension in filing a chargesheet in the case. The SIT probing the case filed an application before the NDPS court in Mumbai asking for an extension of 90 days (3 months) to file the chargesheet.
According to sources within the federal agency, usually the stipulated time to file the chargesheet is 180 days and in this alleged case, the last date to do so was April 2. The application was filed before the NDPS court, two days ago.
Sources also told CNN-News18 that the agency has to investigate a lot more data and examine a few more witnesses in the case, and hence additional time was sought.
The application was filed under section 36 A (4) of the NDPS Act as part of which the agency can ask for additional time depending on the progress in the investigation
The Mumbai Zonal office of the NCB at the time of Aryan’s arrest was headed by IRS Sameer Wankhede under whose watch the raids were conducted and subsequently arrests were made.
But after allegations by Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik that Wankhede and his team were involved in pay offs and alleged underhand dealings, Wankhede was shunted from the probe and a high-level SIT took over the case in November 2022.
A total of 20 people were arrested in the case, including Aryan. While 18 of the alleged accused are out on bail, two drug peddlers continue to be behind bars.
The high-profile case was a subject of much debate, scrutiny and discussion. It also saw a new twist after an NCB witness claimed that a Rs 25-crore money deal was made on behalf of some NCB officials, including zonal director Sameer Wankhede, to let off Aryan, a charge that was dismissed by the agency.
Wankhede was later removed as the lead investigator of the case as he was facing a slew of allegations ranging from bribery, extortion, and questions over his ‘extravagant’ lifestyle.
The case got even murkier as the Delhi team of the NCB found, after taking over the investigation, that there had been major procedural lapses.
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