Editor's Pick: Aryan Khan gets NCB clean chit

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) filed its charge sheet before a special court in Mumbai on Friday and has not named actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the ‘drug on cruise’ case. The 23-year-old was arrested on October 3, 2021 and was in custody for over three weeks. As per a press note released by the agency, “All accused were found in possession of narcotics except Aryan (Khan) and Mohak. The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on which a complaint has been filed against 14 accused and a complaint against six (including Aryan Khan) is not filed due to lack of sufficient evidence.” The 6000-page charge sheet named Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha and 12 others. Mr. Aryan Khan and five others have not been named. On March 28, the agency filed an application before the special Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court, seeking more time to file a charge sheet in the drug case busted on October 2 when 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA and ₹1,33,000 cash were seized at the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai. The case was transferred to a special investigation team (SIT) on November 6, 2021, and on March 2, its chief Sanjay Singh said it was highly premature to say that there was no evidence against Mr. Aryan Khan in the case. At a press conference, NCB Director General S.N. Pradhan said the SIT went by the principle of “beyond reasonable doubt”, based on which there was not sufficient evidence against six of the 20 accused persons. Therefore, the charge sheet was filed against the 14 others within the stipulated time period. A supplementary one would be submitted in case the probe team came across any further evidence. There were serious loopholes in the initial probe, which was carried out under the supervision of then Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Mr. Pradhan said. The government has recommended appropriate action against Mr. Wankhede. In a Ground Zero report, The Hindu probed the allegations against Mr. Wankhede and why the case had become a political slugfest. Mr. Aryan Khan, along with eight others, has been charged with Section 8 (c) — prohibition to produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or tranship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, Section 20 (b) — punishment for contravention in relation to cannabis plant and cannabis produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports, imports inter-State, exports inter-State or uses cannabis, Section 27 — punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, Section 28 — punishment for attempts to commit offences and Section 29 — punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy read with 35 - presumption of culpable mental state of the NDPS Act. An explainer went into the pros and cons of the Act, and why human rights advocates have criticised it as a severe law which leans towards incarceration rather than bail. With the spotlight now on the wrongful arrest of Aryan Khan in the case, the story becomes important. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials Conviction and repression: On Yasin Malik and separatism Sex as Work The Hindu’s Daily Quiz In which city is the row over the Shahi Idgah mosque- Krishna Janmabhoomi happening? Mathura Vrindavan Kurukshetra Dwarka To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 28 MAY 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Aryan Khan gets NCB clean chit The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) filed its charge sheet before a special court in Mumbai on Friday and [has not named actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan]( in the ‘drug on cruise’ case. The 23-year-old was arrested on October 3, 2021 and was in custody for over three weeks. As per a press note released by the agency, “All accused were found in possession of narcotics except Aryan (Khan) and Mohak. The touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt has been applied. Based on which a complaint has been filed against 14 accused and a complaint against six (including Aryan Khan) is not filed due to lack of sufficient evidence.” The 6000-page charge sheet named Arbaaz Merchant, Munmun Dhamecha and 12 others. Mr. Aryan Khan and five others have not been named. On March 28, the agency filed an application before the special Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court, seeking more time to file a charge sheet in the drug case busted on October 2 when 13 grams of cocaine, five grams of MD (mephedrone), 21 grams of charas, 22 pills of MDMA and ₹1,33,000 cash were seized at the International Cruise Terminal, Mumbai. The case was transferred to a special investigation team (SIT) on November 6, 2021, and on March 2, its chief Sanjay Singh said it was highly premature to say that there was no evidence against Mr. Aryan Khan in the case. At a press conference, NCB Director General S.N. Pradhan said the SIT went by the principle of “beyond reasonable doubt”, based on which there was not sufficient evidence against six of the 20 accused persons. Therefore, the charge sheet was filed against the 14 others within the stipulated time period. A supplementary one would be submitted in case the probe team came across any further evidence.  There were serious loopholes in the initial probe, which was carried out under the supervision of then Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, Mr. Pradhan said. The government has recommended appropriate action against Mr. Wankhede. [In a Ground Zero report]( The Hindu probed the allegations against Mr. Wankhede and why the case had become a political slugfest. Mr. Aryan Khan, along with eight others, has been charged with Section 8 (c) — prohibition to produce, manufacture, possess, sell, purchase, transport, warehouse, use, consume, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or tranship any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, Section 20 (b) — punishment for contravention in relation to cannabis plant and cannabis produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports, imports inter-State, exports inter-State or uses cannabis, Section 27 — punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, Section 28 — punishment for attempts to commit offences and Section 29 — punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy read with 35 - presumption of culpable mental state of the NDPS Act. An [explainer went into the pros and cons of the Act]( and why human rights advocates have criticised it as a severe law which leans towards incarceration rather than bail. With the spotlight now on the wrongful arrest of Aryan Khan in the case, the story becomes important.  Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more.  [Click here]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Conviction and repression: On Yasin Malik and separatism]( [Arrow][Sex as Work]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz In which city is the row over the Shahi Idgah mosque- Krishna Janmabhoomi happening? - Mathura - Vrindavan - Kurukshetra - Dwarka To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( Today’s Best Reads [[Friday prayers disallowed at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid] Friday prayers disallowed at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid]( [[The light of late-career greatness refracted through the Serena prism] The light of late-career greatness refracted through the Serena prism]( [[In Seoni, the blood trail of a lynching] In Seoni, the blood trail of a lynching]( [[Doing no justice to a vision of democracy] Doing no justice to a vision of democracy]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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