Acclaimed Actor's Son Finally Granted Bail Almost a Month Later Following Drugs Case

By Daniel S. Levine

Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, was granted bail after almost a month in jail Thursday. The 23-year-old Kahn was arrested alongside seven others on Oct. 2 after officials raided a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai. His legal team has always argued that Khan was not in possession of drugs at the time he was arrested and suggested the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) misinterpreted WhatsApp chats used as evidence. Following his release on Thursday, Khan's sister Suhana Khan, 21, posted photos of herself and her brother with Shah Rukh, 55, on Instagram to celebrate.

Khan's attorney Mukul Rohatgi, who previously served as India's attorney general, told NDTV Shah Rukh cried "tears of joy" after his son was released on bail. "He has been very, very worried the last three-four days that I was there and I'm not even sure whether he had proper meals," Rohatgi said Thursday. "He was just having coffee after coffee. And he was very, very worried. And I could see a big sense of relief, yeah, on the father's face last time I met him."

Khan was denied bail after he was arrested, and he was denied bail again on Oct. 21. On Thursday evening, Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, and model Munmun Dhamecha were all finally granted bail when the case reached the Bombay High Court. The court still has to issue a written order on Friday, which would give all three the opportunity to celebrate Diwali at home. Khan will also be with his father on Nov. 2 to celebrate the actor's birthday.

During the high court hearing, Rohatgi said Khan was not found with any drugs in his possession during the raid. He also called the two-year-old WhatsApp chats the NCB entered as evidence were "irrelevant" to the cruise. The NCB also claimed Khan was aware that Merchant had charas in his shoe, which was an example of "conscious possession." Rohatgi also thought this was a stretch. He pointed out that Khan was only invited to the cruise party and was not an organizer, reports The Hindustan Times.

Shah Rukh and his son later posed for a picture with his legal team. The photos, published on Twitter by Asian News International, were the first with father and son since Shah Rukh visited the prison where his son was in custody on Oct. 14. Shah Rukh has not issued a statement himself. "I love u," Suhana wrote in her Instagram post on Thursday.

Other Bollywood stars celebrated the news. "Congratulations to [Aryan Khan] and to the other accused for getting bail. I'm so happy that it was finally granted, bro [Shah Rukh] Bhagwan ke ghar mein der hai andher nahi. You have contributed hugely to the fraternity. God bless both you and your family," singer Mika Singh tweeted. "So if It just took Mukul Rahtogi's argument, to get bail for Aryan, does it mean his earlier lawyers were so incompetent that he had to spend so many days in jail needlessly?" actor Ram Gopal Varma tweeted.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of