Cruise Ship Drug Case | Special NDPS Court Refuses Bail To Peddler Abdul Shaikh

Thirty-year-old Shaikh was arrested on October 4, 2021 after commercial quantity of narcotics was allegedly seized at his behest. The drugs included 2.5grams of Ecstasy and 54.3grams of Mephedrone.

He was booked under sections 22(b), 22(c), 27, 27A, 28 and 29 of the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Shaikh sought bail on the following grounds-

Illegally detained beyond 24 hours

1. Shaikh claimed that according to the panchnama he was apprehended on October 3, 2021, however he was shown arrested only on October 4, the following day. Therefore, his detention was illegal.

Special Public Prosecutor, Advait Sethna opposed the bail application and argued that Shaikh has signed the arrest memo and not challenged the document. Moreover, his illegal arrest claim was already rejected by the Magistrate when he was produced for remand.

Non-compliance of section 50 of the NDPS Act

1.The accused claimed he was not asked if he wanted to be searched before a gazetted officer or a Magistrate, as it is his right under the provision. He alleged a member of the raiding party searched him.

The NCB argued that all the procedures were followed, moreover this contention could be adjudicated at the time of trial.

Habitual Panch Witness

1. According to documents produced by Shaikh, the 'independent' witness- Adil Usmani- regarding the alleged seizures made from him, was a 'habitual' witness for the NCB, and had been a witness in at least 16 of their cases which showed he wasn't "independent." "He is very much under the thumb of the NCB and is malleable as per their whims and fancies."

The NCB sought additional time to respond to this contention. Sethna argued that even if the pancha was common, there was a presumption he was an independent witness unless proved otherwise. He submitted that Shaikh's lawyers failed to bring any contrary material against Usmani on record.

Background

The NCB arrested Aryan Khan on October 3, 2021 along with several others following an alleged drug bust where the Cordelia Cruise Ship was docked. While nothing was recovered from Khan, however his friend Arbaaz Merchant was allegedly found in possession of 6 gms of charas. Another 5gms of hashish was reportedly retrieved from Munmun Dhamecha.

They were booked under Sections 8(c), 20(b), 27, 28, 29 and 35 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. 

Prima facie there is no evidence on record to infer that Aryan Khan and his friend Arbaaz Merchant conspired to commit offences under the NDPS Act, the Bombay High Court said in its order granting bail on October 28, 2021.

It may be noted that earlier, Prabhakar Sail, another panch witness in the case, had made startling allegations about extortion and pay-offs involving KP Gosavi (a private person at the NCB raid whose picture with Aryan Khan went viral even before he was formally arrested), the investigating officer and then NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and others, in a notarized affidavit.

As a result of these allegations the case is now being investigated by a Special Investigation Team of the NCB in Delhi.