Drugs-on-Cruise Case: What Do Arguments in Bombay HC Tell Us About NCB Probe?

<div>After twenty-four days in jail under charges of purchase, abetment, conspiracy, and possession of drugs – none of which were admissible in court – Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was <a href="https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/celebrities/aryan-khan-bail-hearing-high-court-ncb-mumbai-drugs-case-arbaaz-merchantt-munmun-dhamecha-cruise-ship-bollywood">granted bail</a> by the Bombay High Court on Thursday, 28 October.<br> <br> </div> <div>The cruise ship drug case has been dominating the headlines for close to a month and buzzing with new updates since his arrest on 2 October. And despite the extensive pursuit and media hype around this high-profile case, the NCB investigation raised more questions than answers.<br> <br> </div> <div>Appearing on behalf of Aryan Khan, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi stated that his arrest was in direct violation of constitutional guarantees and none of the “unbelievable and shocking” WhatsApp chats recovered from Khan’s phone relate to the cruise party.<br> <br> What has further muddied the waters in the NCB’s case, are allegations made by a witness in the case Prabhakar Sail, against Sameer Wankhede, who is the Mumbai NCB chief and in-charge of the investigation. In an affidavit, Sail claimed that he was made to sign blank pages by Wankhede and that he overheard conversations that point to corruption and extortion of money.<br> <br> </div> <div>And parallel to the NCB case, something else is brewing, with Wankhede now being <a href="https://www.thequint.com/news/india/mumbai-drugs-case-4-member-team-formed-to-probe-sameer-wankhedes-extortion-row#read-more">investigated for extortion and bribery by the Mumbai Police</a> after four separate complaints were lodged against him. Seeing this, Wankhede has now been given interim relief from arrest by the Bombay HC.<br> <br> The Aryan Khan case saga shows us how despite legal experts pointing out big holes in the probe, the NCB continued with their investigation for weeks.<br> <br>