Mumbai, Nov 20: The Bombay High Court, in its detailed order granting bail to actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and two others in the drugs-on-cruise case, has said that prima facie it has not found any positive evidence against the accused to show that they had conspired to commit an offence.

A single bench of Justice N W Sambre had on October 28 granted bail to Aryan Khan, his friend Arbaaz Merchant and a fashion model Munmun Dhamecha in the case on a personal bond of Rs one lakh each. A detailed copy of the order was made available on Saturday.

The court said that perusal of the WhatsApp chats extracted from the phone of Aryan Khan shows that nothing objectionable was noticed to suggest that he, Merchant and Dhamecha along with other accused in the case have hatched a conspiracy of committing the offence in question.

It also held that the confessional statement of Aryan Khan recorded by the NCB under section 67 of the NDPS Act can be considered only for investigation purposes and cannot be used as a tool for drawing an inference that the accused have committed an offence under the NDPS Act.

"There is hardly any positive evidence on record to convince this court that all the accused persons with common intention agreed to commit unlawful acts," the court said while rejecting the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) argument that the case of all the accused ought to be considered together.

Rather the probe carried out till date suggests that Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant were travelling independently of Munmun Dhamecha and "there was no meeting of minds' on the alleged offence, the 14-page order said.

"So as to infer the case of conspiracy against the applicants also, there is absence of material on record of them having such meeting of minds with the other accused, who were named in the offence in question," the order said.

The court further noted that the trio had already suffered incarceration for almost 25 days and the prosecution had not even conducted a medical examination on them so as to determine if they had consumed drugs.

Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha were arrested by the NCB on October 3 and were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for conspiracy, possession, sale, purchase and illicit trafficking of banned substances.

The court in its order noted that Aryan Khan was not found in possession of any objectionable substance and this fact has not been disputed. Merchant and Dhamecha were found to be in illegal possession of drugs, the quantity of which is considered a small quantity.

"The court, in such cases, is first required to ascertain whether there is enough material on record to prima facie infer that the applicants (Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha) have hatched a conspiracy and that the prosecution was justified in invoking provisions of section 29 (criminal conspiracy) of the NDPS Act," the order said.

It added that to infer so, there has to be positive evidence about an agreement to do an unlawful act and such agreement must precede with meeting of minds.

Justice Sambre further said that the court needs to be sensitive to the fact that there has to be presence of basic material in the form of evidence so as to substantiate the case of conspiracy against the accused persons.

"Merely because the applicants were travelling on the cruise, that by itself cannot be termed as satisfying foundation for invoking provisions of section 29 (conspiracy) of the NDPS Act," the court said.

Justice Sambre further said that even if the case of the prosecution is considered, the maximum punishment is not more than one year for such an offence.

Aryan Khan had walked out of the Arthur Road prison on October 30. As per the bail conditions imposed by the high court, he is required to appear before the NCB office in south Mumbai every Friday to mark his presence and shall not indulge in similar offences or tamper with evidence in the case.

Aryan Khan, Merchant and Dhamecha have also been directed to not leave the country without permission from the trial court and to inform the NCB if they intend to leave Mumbai.

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New Delhi (PTI): A court here has ordered framing of several charges, including murder, arson and dacoity, against 25 accused in a 2020 northeast Delhi rioting case pertaining to the assault of a police team that left head constable Ratan Lal dead.

Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala also said the Constitution does not vest any right to a protester to use violence, assault, murder or damage any property. Therefore, the argument that the accused were exercising their constitutional rights, is totally misconceived, the court said.

The court was hearing the case against 27 people accused of being a part of a riotous mob that attacked and "brutally assaulted" a police team at the Chand Bagh protest site when officials tried to stop them from blocking the main Wazirabad road on February 24, 2020.

In its 115-page order passed on November 22, the court noted that Lal's postmortem report showed a firearm wound and 21 other external injuries.

"This firearm wound as well as five other wounds were found sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature. Thus, the death of HC Ratan Lal took place because of the assault and gunfire shot received in the incident," the court said.

Lal, who was suffering from mild fever and was advised to rest by his colleagues, joined duty in view of the grave tension in the area under Dayalpur police station limits.

He helped the then DCP Shahdara DCP Amit Sharma and ACP Gokalpuri Anuj Kumar pacify a crowd and control it as the situation started heating up, the prosecution said.

Lal succumbed to 24 injuries he received while shielding officers when a riotous mob started attacking them.

Apart from Lal, the then DCP and ACP also sustained serious injuries, while 50 other policemen were also among the injured.

The court said on the day of the incident the protestors had a "clear objective" of resorting to violence so that they could show their strength to the government.

"The protesters not only gathered to show protest against CAA/NRC, rather they came well equipped with weapons with a mindset to use the same against the police force," it said, adding the riotous mob had the objective to "brutally" beat or assault the police officials wherever possible and also aimed to commit vandalism, loot and arson.

The court noted that a few days before the incident, a meeting was held, where it was decided to block the road and resort to violence when stopped by police.

"After the attempt to block main Wazirabad road on February 23, 2020, was neutralised by police, the emphasis on joining the protest in large numbers on February 24 and carrying weapons, shows that the organisers and speakers of the protest had framed a clear-cut mindset to attack police force," the court said, adding it was a preplanned criminal conspiracy.

"The preparations made to keep weapons in the tent of protest, or gathering of protesters equipped with different weapons, could not be a matter of coincidence. Moreover, keeping women and juveniles in the front to start pelting stones upon police, also appears to be a well-thought strategy," ASJ Pramachala said.

Noting the statements of the witnesses, the judge said there was a "persistent abetment" to incite violence by the organisers and speakers of the protest.

Ordering framing of charges of criminal conspiracy against 11 organisers and speakers of the anti-CAA/NRC meeting, the court said there was "prima facie" evidence against them.

The organisers were Mohammed Salim Khan, Saleem Malik, Mohammed Jalaluddin alias Guddu Bhai, Shahnawaz, Furkan, Mohammed Ayub, Mohammed Yunus, Athar Khan, Tabassum, Mohammed Ayaz and his brother Khalid.

The court also ordered framing charges against 14 other accused under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections for attacking the police team and rioting.

These include the provisions for murder, attempt to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, mischief by fire or explosive substance, causing grievous hurt to a public servant, committing rioting when armed with a deadly weapon, dacoity, unlawful assembly and sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

The 14 accused are Mohammed Sadiq, Suvaleen, Nasir, Arif, Mohammed Danish, Ibrahim, Badrul Hasan, Shadab Ahmed, Imran Ansari, Ravish Fatima, Adil, Sameer, Mohammed Mansur and Irshad Ali.

The matter has been posted on December 3 for formal framing of charges.

During the proceedings, the court also refused to entertain the argument of a defence counsel that his client Saleem Malik could not be prosecuted in the case as he was already being prosecuted in the larger conspiracy case.

It said, "Just because the accused is also named in the case of the larger conspiracy, he does not get exemption from prosecution in this case."

The judge, meanwhile, discharged one Mohammed Wasim alias Bablu, saying his identity as a part of the riotous mob was not established.

"Merely based on call detail records (CDRs) and appearance of this accused in some CCTV footages, which pertained to prior in time than the incident in question, I do not find sufficient evidence to presume that it was Wasim, who had thrown petrol bomb or that he was present in the mob."

The court also discharged another accused Sahid alias Shahbaz from whom a robbed pistol of a police official was recovered, saying he could be only charged under IPC section 412 (dishonestly receiving property stolen in the commission of a dacoity).

It said, "This accused cannot be presumed to be part of rioters, merely based on recovery of the robbed pistol. He is discharged for remaining charges."

The northeast Delhi riots, which started on February 24, 2020 and continued till February 26, 2020, resulted in the death of more than 50 people and lef over 200 people injured.