NCB, after the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, has done many interrogations, raids, and arrests regarding drugs and narcotics which has shaken the entire entertainment industry. From Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor to Rhea Chakraborty, Bharti Singh, and now Aryan Khan, some have been charged with serious connections with the drug peddlers and some had been called for questioning.
Today, we are going to discuss the cases of comedian Bharti Singh, and SRK’s son Aryan Khan – both cases do not differ much as the intention of the act was same, that is the consumption of ganja, but they differ on one ground – that is the fame and name.
Aryan khan case
Bollywood actor SRK’s son Aryan Khan was arrested recently by NCB after being interrogated over an alleged cruise rave party. Arrested under the sec 8C, 20B, 27, and 35 of NDPS act, Aryan was booked in connection with the rave party where 13 gm cocaine, 21 gm charas, 22 pills of MDMA, 5 gm MD, and Rs. 1.33 lakh cash was recovered. Aryan khan along with seven more were arrested and took into custody; their bail plea has been rejected continuously.
Bharti Singh case
NCB arrested comedian Bharti Singh along with her husband with the recovery of 86.5 gm ganja. A tip was given by a drug peddler and the raid was done.
Both Bharti and her husband confessed that they have consumed ganja. Soon bail appeal was filed and they got bail the next day.
Brief about NDPS act
The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, is an act passed by the parliament that covers certain names and quantity of drugs and psychotropic substances whose consumption, and possession either for consumption or for a commercial purpose, is illegal and serious actions are taken within the provisions covered under this act. Substances like LSD, morphine, etc. are covered under this act along with the provisions related to the punishment.
The act says that the punishment under this act can be either rigorous imprisonment for a term which can extend to several years, or imposition of a penalty, or both, depending upon the seriousness of the case, if the amount of seized drugs is small.
If the quantity is lesser than the commercial quantity but greater than the allowed quantity, the punishment according to the act can extend up to ten years with a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. The section brought against Aryan falls under this category.
However, if the quantity is commercial, then the punishment can include rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years and can extend to 20 years.
The quantity of the substances is already mentioned in the act.
The CEO of the cruise ship has declined any relation to the accused and said that the ship was arranged by an event management company, and they were unaware of any drug-related happenings.
While filing the panchnama, NCB cleared it very specifically that they had gone by the laws and not by word of mouth. NCB has stated that no drugs have been found on Aryan Khan, but the chats on his phone could be a major lead – it might have connections with some international drug racket.
The question that arises here is of the bail appeal. Bharti Singh, despite confessing that she and her husband have consumed drugs got bail, but Aryan Khan could not get bail. The role of NCB has also been questioned by Khan’s ex-lawyer Satish Manshinde, who questioned the role of NCB in this entire drama as well as the procedure. While defending Khan, he questioned why only a few were arrested when there were hundreds of people present on the ship? How can the process of raid or panchnama be trusted when only a few people were arrested and charged.
Satish Manshinde also argued that no drugs were found on his client, so the question of keeping Khan in custody is pointless. Satish Manshinde also argued that that chats are baseless and cannot be held against Aryan khan.
NCB and their lawyer continue to emphasize that the chats could be a crucial lead for further investigation and connected with some other big rackets, an for that, they need custody of Aryan Khan.
Some people are saying that NCB has deliberately targeted these influential kids for some personal benefits, but NCB completely denied this.
The one thing that is confuusing people is how Bharti Singh so easily got bail the next very day, while Aryan Khan is being detained and kept in custody just based on few chats, and is repeatedly being denied bail.
Many speculations are being made that it was deliberately done on the word of some politically influential people because Shahrukh Khan been the Badshah of Bollywood, and has been always very fearless whenever it comes to keeping his point of view in public. This gives a good and valid motive to those people who either want to take revenge or want to get some sort of advantage in this whole drama.
However, it’s too early to jump to a conclusion and make speculations about the whole incident. Who is wrong, who is right is something which the court will decide, and not any media trials or some random people.
Guilty or not is something which should be left on the judiciary, but one thing which can be expected from the judiciary is to be unbiased. They should ignore all the unnecessary fuss created by a certain section of the society. The work of the judiciary is to punish the guilty and give justice to the victims, whatsoever the background of the guilty might be. That is why the judiciary has been one of the pillars of democracy, along with the legislature and executive.
Whenever there is a dispute between the centre and state, or centre with citizen, or state with citizen, it is only the judiciary which has the power to interveine and pass the judgement. So we should let the judiciary decide who is wrong or who is right, and hope for a fair and just judgement.
Edited by Anupama Roy
