Aryan Khan walks out after 22 days in Mumbai jail in cruise drugs case

Mumbai: Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, walked out of the Arthur Road prison, after 22 days in the central Mumbai facility following his arrest during a drug raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.

Aryan came out of the prison shortly after 11 am, a day after a special court issued his release memo.

Immediately after walking out of the prison, he entered a waiting car and drove to his house Mannat in suburban Bandra, 12 km away.

He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Thursday. Shah Rukh Khan’s actor-friend Juhi Chawla stood as surety for the 23-year-old before the special court, designated to hear cases related to the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

The HC on Friday afternoon made available its operative order in which it imposed 14 bail conditions on Aryan Khan and his co-accused in the case, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, who were also granted bail, stipulating their release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one or two sureties of the same amount.

The relief to the trio came just a day before the HC was scheduled to take a two-week break for Diwali.

In the five-page order, signed by Justice N W Sambre, the high court said the trio will have to surrender their passports before the NDPS court and shall not leave India without taking permission from the special court.

Also, they will have to attend the NCB office each Friday between 11 am and 2 pm to mark their presence, the HC said.

The judge will give a detailed bail order with reasons next week.

Aryan Khan, Merchant, and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, and conspiracy and abetment.

Their arrest came a day after the NCB raided the cruise ship and claimed to have seized banned drugs. So far, 20 people have been arrested in the case and two of them were granted bail by the special NDPS court earlier this week.