Cruise drugs case: Bombay HC exempts Aryan Khan from weekly appearance at NCB office
Mumbai, Dec 15: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday exempted Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, from his weekly appearance before the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) office here in connection with the cruise drugs case.
A single bench of Justice N W Sambre said the condition imposed on Aryan Khan while granting him bail that he has to appear before the NCB office every Friday is modified.
"The applicant (Aryan) shall attend the office of NCB Delhi as and when directed by the agency, provided the NCB issues a 72-hour notice to the applicant," Justice Sambre said.
The court also modified another condition laid down in the bail order that required him to furnish his itinerary to the NCB every time he travels out of Mumbai.
"The applicant need not submit his itinerary if he is travelling to Delhi for recording his statement. He shall submit his itinerary to the NCB in case of any other travel outside Mumbai," Justice Sambre said.
Aryan Khan was granted bail by the HC in the case on October 28. One of the conditions imposed on him was that he should appear before the NCB's south Mumbai office every Friday to mark his presence.
The 23-year-old last week filed an application seeking waiver of this condition on the ground that the case is now being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the NCB's Delhi office.
"The NCB's Mumbai office has now nothing to do with the case. My client (Aryan) has been cooperating with the probe and has, in fact, also appeared before the SIT probing the case and recorded his statement," Aryan Khan's counsel Amit Desai argued.
He said Aryan Khan has no hesitation to appear before the NCB's SIT at Delhi as and when summons are issued to him.
NCB's advocate Shreeram Shirsat told the court that the agency does not have any objection to the modification.
"However, the applicant should appear before the NCB's SIT as and when summoned either in Mumbai or Delhi," Shirsat told the court.
Desai further argued that every time Aryan Khan appears before the NCB's office in Mumbai, there is a huge crowd and he has to be accompanied by police personnel, which causes unnecessary hassle.
Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3 on charges of alleged possession, consumption and sale/purchase of drugs following a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast.
He was later granted bail by the HC, which had imposed 14 conditions on him.
He was asked, among other things, to appear before the NCB every Friday, not to leave Mumbai without informing the agency and not to leave India without permission from the special NDPS court.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
