Having taken cognisance of the Bombay High Court’s order rejecting the allegation of “conspiracy and common intent” against Aryan Khan and two others in the mid-sea sea bust case, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Monday indicated that the Mumbai police would probe if the “raid” on Goa-bound Cordelia Cruise ship was “fake” or otherwise.
Two days after the high court – in detailed order granting bail to Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha – observed that there prima facie “no positive evidence” against them, Walse-Patil said that in view of various serious observations made by the court, the Mumbai police would investigate if the the “raid” on Goa-bound Cordelia Cruise ship was “fake” or otherwise.
In his detailed order granting bail to Aryan and two other accused, a single-member HC bench of Justice Nitin W Sambre had noted in his detailed order released on Saturday: “... there is no material on record to infer that applicants (Aryan and two others) have hatched conspiracy to commit the offence..”
Raising the questionable manner in which the NCB investigated the case, the Judge had slammed the investigating agency for not subjecting the accused to medical examination “so as to determine whether at the relevant time, they had consumed drugs” and made mince meat of the investigators’ claim that they had found incriminating whatsapp chat from Aryan’s phone, by observing that “nothing objectionable could be noticed to suggest that he and two other accused had hatched a conspiracy.
The Judge noted that going by the material brought on record before it, “this Court has prima facie not noticed any positive evidence against the applicants”. “This court is of the opinion that the claim put forth by the respondent that the applicants should be considered to have the common intention to commit an offence under the NDPS Act, having found in possession of commercial quantity. In the backdrop of case of hatching conspiracy is liable to be rejected”.