New Delhi/Mumbai (TIP)- The NCB’s inquiry team has alleged that its former zonal director Sameer Wankhede abused his position while probing the drugs-on-cruise case involving Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan. The NCB’s findings have been taken on record as part of the CBI’s FIR against Wankhede and three other NCB officials, who initially investigated the case.
The NCB has found several alleged service rule violations by Wankhede, including misreporting of foreign travel expenses and dealings in luxury watches. The inquiry team, in its report, has found irregularities against Indian Revenue Services officer Wankhede and his team on two counts — alleged irregularities in the conduct of the drugs-on-cruise raids and violations under the Central Civil Services (CCS) Rules.
Wankhede has, however, denied the allegations. He had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and recently the Bombay High Court to quash the CBI FIR against him, saying the SET chief — NCB Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh — was “acting as judge of his own cause and conduct” as he was his reporting boss during the investigation of the case.
Meanwhile, Wankhede, accused of demanding bribe from Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son, has claimed in his petition that the superstar praised the officer’s “integrity” and pleaded with him to be kind to Aryan.
As per Wankhede’s petition before the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the FIR registered against him by the CBI for bribery, Khan deplored the political involvement in the case. As per the transcript provided in the petition, in one of the messages, the actor said, “God bless you. I have to come personally whenever you say and give a hug to you. Let me please know whenever it’s convenient for you. Really, I have always had the highest regard for your uprightness and now it has increased manifolds. Big respect.” “Please show some kindness … I can only plead and beg you as a father. Please,” the superstar said in another chat, as per the petition.
Tag: Aryan Khan
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Aryan Khan case: Wankhede abused his position, says NCB probe
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Wankhede shocker: NCB needs to put its own house in order
The charges against Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede are piling up. According to the FIR registered by the CBI last week, Wankhede and his accomplices allegedly demanded Rs 25 crore as bribe for not framing Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the 2021 drugs-on-cruise case. The FIR mentions that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team which raided the cruise ship allowed the supplier and the persons who were in possession of drugs to go scot-free. The tainted officer, who served as the NCB’s Zonal Director in Mumbai, is also on the probe agency’s radar for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, besides making a misleading declaration of expenditure incurred on his foreign visits.
The CBI booked Wankhede and the others following an investigation by a Special Enquiry Team (SET), headed by a Deputy Director General of the NCB. The SET report laid bare the officer’s brazen attempt to extort crores of rupees from Aryan’s family. The sordid saga has dented the credibility of the NCB, the nodal agency that enforces drug laws in India and works in coordination with international bodies such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Several questions need to be answered: Did Wankhede’s superiors turn a blind eye to his excesses? Or were some of them in league with him? Who were the politicians whose patronage emboldened him to commit the offences?
The NCB, tasked with the ‘detection and disruption’ of organized drug trafficking groups, cannot do its job effectively if it shows laxity in weeding out erring officers. A deeper probe into the Wankhede case is a must so that course correction can be done. Sending a strong message of zero tolerance for corruption can deter domestic and international drug cartels. Also, the bureau must give precedence to catching the big fish. Getting its priorities right can help the NCB make a significant difference on the ground.
(Tribune India) -
Aryan Khan’s detention outrages India
The Bombay High Court granted bail to Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drugs case on October 28. ‘Bollywood superstar SRK’s son Aryan Khan arrested in drugs case,’ screamed headlines on October 3, 2021, beginning a filmy saga that ultimately saw Aryan Khan cooling his heels at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.
He was arrested in connection with a drugs raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau. Helmed by zonal director Sameer Wankhede, the NCB’s Mumbai unit raided a cruise ship off the city coast. Aryan Khan, along with several others, was arrested and accused of consumption and ‘conspiracy’, among other charges.
Since the arrest of Aryan, the Khan family has not said anything in public. However, reactions have come from a few Bollywood stars and politicians, who are outraged over his detention.
Actor Suniel Shetty asked the media to let Aryan Khan breathe and not jump to conclusions. “It is our responsibility to take care of the child,” Shetty said. Film director Pooja Bhatt wrote on Twitter, “I stand in solidarity with you. SRK. Not that you need it. But I do. This too, shall pass.”
Actor Hrithik Roshan posted a heartfelt letter addressed to Aryan on Instagram. He wrote, “God is kind. He gives only the toughest ones the toughest balls to play.”
Others, including directors Farah Khan and Karan Johar, were seen visiting Mannat, the Khan family’s home in Mumbai’s Bandra. Actor Salman Khan visited multiple times.
Among politicians, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said he was “repelled by the ghoulish epicaricacy displayed by those witch-hunting” Shah Rukh Khan.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed that Aryan Khan was being targeted by law enforcement agencies because of his Muslim surname.
On being asked about the case, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he would fight for “those who are voiceless and weak, not for those whose fathers are powerful”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik alleged that the NCB’s raid on the cruise was ‘fake’ and the BJP was using central agencies to “defame Maharashtra, the Maharashtra government and Bollywood.” He questioned the presence during the raid of two people who allegedly have nothing to do with the NCB. One of them, he claimed, was associated with the BJP.
Mrs Funnybones, Twinkle Khanna commented on Aryan Khan’s arrest by writing that it reminded her of an episode of ‘Squid Game’. ‘I need some heavy-duty psychotropic substances to make sense of this development,’ she wrote. In an Instagram post, Khanna shared a portion of her blog post titled, ‘Let the desi Squid Games begin’. Citing the example from one of the episodes of the popular South Korean drama, she wrote, “Each player is given ten marbles and must get their opponent’s marbles by competing in any game of their choosing. In this episode, one of the strongest candidates is badgered and ultimately bamboozled into losing his marbles. I seem to have misplaced mine as well when I read the news about Shah Rukh Khan’s son’s arrest.” Twinkle Khanna found it unfair that Aryan has been in jail for two weeks without any evidence against him, “While his friend was apparently carrying 6 gm of charas, there is reportedly no evidence of possession by Aryan Khan. Yet, the young boy has been languishing in Arthur Road jail for almost two weeks now.”
Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’ director Rahul Dholakia tweeted: ‘Outrageous !!! You are saying there is a “possible” connection to his “international” racket based on “WhatsApp” chat recovered from his phone, that you confiscated on a “bust” where he “had nothing” ?And you have been fishing for days and yet not found anything? #FreeAryanKhan’
The ‘Veere Di Wedding’ actress Swara Bhasker called it ‘pure harassment’.
‘Omerta’ director Hansal Mehta wrote, ”Marijuana/cannabis consumption is legal in many countries. It has been decriminalised in many. In our country its consumption is used more for harassment than for narcotics control. A movement like the one to abolish sec 377 is necessary to end this continuing travesty.”
Actress Tanishaa Mukerji slammed the behaviour of officials, calling it harassment. She told ‘Bombay Times’, “I definitely think that in Aryan’s case, this is harassment. More so by putting the child on a media trial! This is not real journalism, just sensationalism or Bollywood bashing as you would say. Unfortunately, people have become callous towards our stars saying things like, that these are the pros and cons to being a star kid! Really? Obviously they don’t have any compassion. This country is for all of us and people should be more discerning when looking at the evidence and think what if this was happening to my child? What would I do? Is this justice?”.
Director Prahlad Kakkar claims the reason for the hoopla is because Aryan is a star child. He pointed out that Aryan wasn’t found to be carrying any narcotics and so wondered why he had been kept in remand. “He is being targeted because he is Shah Rukh Khan’s son, why else? There is no proof that he was carrying anything with him. They are looking at his phone, at one-year-old old messages, when he was in England and trying to tell people that he is involved in an international drug cartel. What rubbish!”
Raveena Tandon defended Aryan Khan and tweeted: “Shameful politics being played out.. it’s a young mans life and future they toying with … heartbreaking.” Raveena and Shah Rukh have appeared in several films together.
Taking to Twitter, music composer Vishal Dadlani opined that Aryan’s arrest is a smokescreen to distract the public from the 3000 kg Talibani drug procurement from Adani airport. “If Composers count, I am. SRK and his family are being used as a smokescreen, a soft target to distract from the 3000kg Talibani-drug haul at the Adani port, and to distract from the murder of farmers by the son of a BJP member/MLA. Straight-up,” he wrote.
Veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha claimed that Aryan is being “targeted” because he is SRK’s son. While talking to ETimes, he said, “Shah Rukh is definitely the reason why the boy is being targeted. There are other names like Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant, but nobody is talking about them. The last time such a thing happened, the focus was on Deepika Padukone, although there were other names involved, and known names too, but the focus was on her only.”
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The hunter gets captured by the game: Aryan Khan, Sameer Wankhede and a political slugfest
By Alok Deshpande The Aryan Khan case has created ripples everywhere and brought many under the scanner. The son of the famous actor may be out on bail, but with Malik continuing to make allegations against Wankhede and the officer now running to court for protection, the show is yet to get over.
Following the arrest of superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son in a drugs-related case, allegations of professional and personal impropriety have been made against Sameer Wankhede, the officer heading the investigation. Alok Deshpande reports on the events of the last three weeks which have grown into a political slugfest. In the wee hours of October 3, a crowd gathered outside the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office in south Mumbai. When an officer stepped out of the building and under the glare of television cameras, reporters, hungry for bites, pounced on him, many almost pushing their mikes into his mouth. “Yes, we have taken eight to 10 people in our custody,” said the officer, Sameer Wankhede, Mumbai Zonal Director of the NCB. “Investigation is in progress.”
“Eight or 10?” a reporter demanded to know, but this voice got lost in the volley of questions that were being thrown at the officer. Little did anyone in that crowd know that this question would haunt the NCB in general and Wankhede in particular in the coming days. But that is for later.
On that day, the famed NCB officer had everything under control. Aryan Khan, the 23-year-old son of Shah Rukh Khan, who is one of the biggest film stars in the world, was sitting inside the NCB office. He and his friends Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were being probed by the agency for alleged drug abuse on board the Cordelia cruise ship the day before, at a party organized by Fashion TV. Of the 1,300 guests at the party, the NCB had picked up a few youngsters, later alleging that they were part of an international drug racket. The arrests of the three accused immediately caught the country’s attention. But no one would have expected it to spiral into what it has become today — a bewildering story of accusations and counteraccusations involving politicians, government servants and Bollywood stars.
In the limelight
Wankhede’s brush with fame, glamour and controversy is neither new nor surprising. The 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer from the Customs and Central Excise branch was posted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from 2010 to 2013. In 2011, he made headlines when, as Assistant Commissioner of Customs, he imposed a fine of ₹1.5 lakh on none other than Shah Rukh Khan, who had returned from a family holiday in Holland and London, for excess luggage.
Besides Shah Rukh Khan, Minissha Lamba and Anushka Sharma and team members of Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Ranbir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Anurag Kashyap and Mika Singh have come under Wankhede’s radar during his stint at the airport and then at the Service Tax department for reportedly not declaring imported valuables such as watches, perfumes and footwear.
Many say they were surprised when Wankhede went to the National Investigation Agency on deputation in 2013. In 2017, he was assigned to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. “What attracted the attention of many and resulted in him being deputed to the NCB was that he had a wide network of informants,” an official with the NCB says on the condition of anonymity.
In 2020, Wankhede began to probe the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. It all began on June 14 when Rajput, 34, was found dead at his Bandra home. The Mumbai Police began an investigation stating that the death was being treated as a suicide. The autopsy report confirmed that the actor had died by suicide. Nevertheless, an unprecedented political storm occurred in the wake of his death, with the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled to take place a few months later. Rajput was a native of Bihar. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw an opportunity to denounce the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, especially the Shiv Sena. Senior BJP leaders alleged that Rajput had been murdered and that the incident was being covered up to protect an influential, young leader of the Sena. An FIR was registered in Bihar. The allegations, all made without any evidence, received extraordinary media coverage. Rajput’s girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty was blamed for his death and was then accused of killing him. Following the BJP’s claims, which were aided by Rajput’s family members, central investigating agencies were brought in to probe the case. A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned all those related to Rajput, including Chakraborty. In July 2020, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering case based on the FIR registered in Bihar and the allegations made by Rajput’s father against Chakraborty. According to sources, the ED’s audit showed references to drugs in Chakraborty’s WhatsApp chats. And so, the NCB was brought in.
On August 31, 2020, Wankhede, who was in the DRI, was inducted into the NCB for six months. The NCB categorically denies that he was brought in especially for the Rajput case. A statement issued by Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy Director General, South West region, NCB, read, “The vacancy circular for filling the post of ZD/DD was initiated in the year 2019. Sh. Sameer Wankhede applied for the post of ZD in NCB on deputation on 28.11.2019 through DG, DRI. The application was forwarded to NCB on 27.08.2020 by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Sh. Sameer Wankhede, IRS was inducted as Zonal Director, Mumbai on 31.08.2020 on loan basis for the period of six months.”
Within a week of taking charge, Wankhede arrested Chakraborty, despite finding no drugs on her, purely on the basis of her WhatsApp chats which the agency then claimed were related to procuring narcotics for Rajput. The NCB’s investigations based on WhatsApp chats didn’t end there. Actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh were also questioned in connection with an alleged drug racket in Bollywood. Kshitij Prasad, former employee at Dharmatic Entertainment, the digital arm of Dharma Productions, was arrested by the NCB. When he was later granted bail, Prasad claimed that the NCB led by Wankhede had harassed him and coerced him to falsely implicate actors Ranbir Kapoor, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal. The NCB denied the claim.
With Wankhede’s arrival, the NCB’s drive to ‘clean up’ Bollywood seemed to gain momentum. “Messages used to go to certain reporters well before the NCB would go to interrogate a celebrity,” a journalist working with a leading private television channel says. WhatsApp chats were leaked to sections of the media, which helped create a narrative against the accused. An agency which was earlier investigating and probing drug cartels and suppliers started making headlines for probing alleged drug users, most of them celebrities, who were found in possession of small quantities of drugs or none at all. Reacting to the criticism that was being directed against him, Wankhede simply said he was following the law.
The officer who had come to the NCB on “loan basis” for six months has till now received two extensions. Since Wankhede’s induction, the NCB has set a record by arresting over 300 people. The agency claims it has dismantled around 12 drug gangs in Mumbai and Goa. But sources point out that none of the high-profile cases have stood scrutiny in court; in many cases, even the charge-sheets have not been filed. That WhatsApp chats alone are being used as evidence against celebrities has come under the scanner too.
Wankhede has said in interviews that his mother worked for street children and his father, who is from the uniformed services, always wanted to see him work for the nation. All these personal details have added to his image as a daredevil officer.
Nawab Malik’s salvos
Wankhede’s actions were countered for the first time when the NCB arrested comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa in November 2020 and allegedly seized 86.5 grams of ganja from their home and office. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Minister for Minority Affairs and Skills Development Nawab Malik said then that drug addicts should be sent to rehabilitation centers and not jail. “The NCB’s duty is to track down drug traffickers but no action is being taken against them,” said Malik, a five-time MLA who is close to NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Two months later, on January 13, 2021, messages were sent to reporters about a “high-profile” interrogation at the NCB office. The accused, the reporters found out on rushing there, was Sameer Khan, Malik’s son-in-law. On January 9, the NCB had seized 200 kilograms of marijuana and arrested British national Karan Sejnani and two sisters — Rahila and Shaista Furniturewala — from Bandra. Sameer was summoned by the NCB after an alleged online transaction of ₹20,000 between him and Sejnani was found. Asked for his reaction then, Malik had said, “Law will take its due course and justice will prevail. I respect and have immense faith in our judiciary.” Sameer remained in jail for nearly eight months.
Months later, Malik paid keen attention to the visuals that were flashing on television screens of some men with Aryan Khan inside the NCB office. Malik decided to hear what Wankhede was saying in front of the camera. “He said ‘eight to 10 are in our custody’. What is this? A joke? It is either eight or 10. An officer always knows how many are in custody,” Malik said.
Malik’s eyes were also drawn to the footage of a bearded man on the cruise ship where Aryan Khan was also present. “An officer with a styled beard?” he wondered. Around the same time when Malik’s suspicions rose, a bald and hefty man’s selfie with Aryan Khan went viral on social media. Wankhede, who was now unknowingly being sucked into a whirlpool, quickly responded that the person in the photo was not an NCB officer. The media ran the clarification. But Malik decided to dig deeper. A photo search on Google led him to K.P. Gosavi, an accused in a cheating case in Pune. Through Gosavi, and using his own network of contacts in the Gujarati trading community, Malik also identified the bearded man on the ship as Manish Bhanushali, a BJP worker. Malik knew he had got hold of something. Malik, who Wankhede says harbors a personal grudge against him, does not deny his past altercations with team Wankhede. He says he was quiet when his son-in-law was arrested as he believed that the law would take its course. But when the judiciary found no evidence against Sameer Khan and the court order stated that what was seized was herbal tobacco, he decided to speak out, he said. He alleged that the NCB had framed his son-in-law.
Following these revelations, the NCB aggressively defended the use of Gosavi and Bhanushali as independent witnesses on the first day of allegations and even hinted that Malik’s outburst was due to personal reasons.
Undeterred, Malik then addressed Wankhede’s vague statement that “eight to 10 people” had been detained. He said that 11 people, in fact, had been detained by the NCB during the October 2 raid but three of them — BJP leader Mohit Kamboj’s brother-in-law Rishabh Sachdev, Pratik Gabha and Amir Furniturewala — were let off.
Malik kept the heat up on Wankhede. Two days later, he raised questions about the involvement of a man cited by the NCB as an independent witness in as many as three cases. He asked whether the man, Fletcher Patel, was an independent witness or a close aide of Wankhede’s. The NCP leader also took to Twitter to post a screenshot of an Instagram picture of Fletcher Patel with a woman described as “lady don”. The woman in the picture is Yasmeen Wankhede, Sameer Wankhede’s sister. A few days later, Malik claimed that Wankhede was extorting money from Bollywood celebrities by threatening them and released photos of the NCB official’s trip to the Maldives.
Malik also alleged that Wankhede is originally Muslim and used a fake caste certificate to get his government job. On the same day, another independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, who was a bodyguard of K.P. Gosavi, filed an affidavit claiming that the NCB had demanded ₹25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan of which ₹8 crore was to go to Wankhede. Sail also said that Wankhede asked him to sign on blank papers. The next day, Malik released the ‘nikahnama’ of Wankhede’s first marriage with Shabana Qureishi where the officer’s father’s name is mentioned as Dawood instead of Dnyandev as per his caste certificate. The Qazi who officiated the marriage in question said that both families involved in the wedding were Muslims.
NCB officer Sameer Wankhede. (File photo) The NCB has been on a defensive mode. For the first time, it has been forced to issue a string of clarifications. Things came to a head with Sail’s affidavit which left the NCB with no option but to form a five-member vigilance team to probe the allegations against Wankhede. The NCB’s Deputy Director General (Northern Region), Gyaneshwar Singh, appealed to Sail to come and depose in front of the agency, but Sail has gone underground.
Facing the heat
Meanwhile, the NCB officer’s family says they are being harassed and have been receiving threats ever since Malik claimed that Wankhede’s caste certificate is fraudulent. Wankhede says he is Hindu by birth and was married to Qureishi under the Special Marriage Act. “The nikahnama was done as my late mother, who was a Muslim, wanted Islamic rituals,” he said. His father claims that he never converted to Islam and was lovingly called Dawood by his wife. Wankhede’s wife Kranti Redkar-Wankhede, an actor, has also denied all the allegations. She says Wankhede is a Hindu and an honest officer. She has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding “justice” while invoking her Marathi roots.
“I do not have a problem with him being a Muslim or a person from any other religion. We have the freedom to practice the religion of our choice. However, Wankhede, by faking his caste certificate, has denied the right of a hard-working child from the Scheduled Caste community by usurping a seat,” Malik said.
Malik’s tweets every morning have kept the pot boiling for the NCB. The BJP has targeted Malik, claiming that the MVA government has been working hard to save Shah Rukh Khan’s son. BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar complained to the Kurla Police station alleging that Malik, by claiming that Wankhede was a Muslim, was creating communal disharmony. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale held a press conference where he termed Malik’s allegations baseless. “Wankhede is a Dalit officer, who is doing good work… and it is not right to target him,” he said.
A political slugfest
Following Rajput’s death as well as the bomb scare in Antilia in February this year, where a car laden with explosives was found parked near the house of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, the BJP strongly advocated the use of central agencies for investigations claiming that the Maharashtra Police were being misused by the MVA government. The Union government ensured that central probe agencies took control of the investigations in these cases. All three parties in the MVA government have alleged several times that the BJP is using central agencies to tarnish the State’s image and destabilize the government.
The BJP’s outburst against Malik came after he exposed the party’s direct connection with the Aryan Khan case. The party could not deny Bhanushali’s presence during the raid. BJP leader Mohit Kamboj, whose brother-in-law was let off by the NCB, has threatened to file a defamation suit against Malik.
After spending more than three weeks in jail, Aryan Khan was granted bail on October 28. Gosavi, who was on the run after his identity was revealed, has now been arrested by the Pune Police in a 2018 cheating case. Bhanushali is nowhere to be found. Wankhede has approached the Bombay High Court seeking protection from possible arrest by the Mumbai Police on the charge of extortion. A departmental inquiry has been initiated against him too.
In the midst of the political slugfest, social media has flared up with one section supporting Shah Rukh Khan and the other, Wankhede. Several social media accounts have been running hashtags personally targeting Shah Rukh Khan, demanding rejection of bail to his son and calling for a boycott of all the products he endorses. Attacks were also mounted against Malik using hashtags such as #SendNawabMalikToJail.
In the blockbuster film Om Shanti Om, Shah Rukh Khan’s character famously says, ‘Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost (The show is yet to get over, my friend)’. The Aryan Khan case has created ripples everywhere and brought many under the scanner. The son of the famous actor may be out on bail, but with Malik continuing to make allegations against Wankhede and the officer now running to court for protection, the show is yet to get over.
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SATYAMEVA JAYATE – LET THE TRUTH PREVAIL
By Rajender Dichpally Just consider this scenario. A 23-year-old man is being shifted from court to court and incarcerated for a crime which has not even been proved. He has been treated like a hard-core criminal, a history sheeter, confined to custody and denied bail for 25 days. Yes, I am talking about the young lad Aryan Khan whose only crime (not proved conclusively) was that he had consumed a miniscule quantity of a particular drug.
If this logic was applied then probably scores of youngsters residing in our campuses and children of businessmen, politicians and other celebrities shouldalso be put behind bars.
In Aryan’s defense the following unassailable arguments emerge:
- No drugs were recovered from him
2.Alleged WhatsApp chats unconnected to the current case are being used as evidence. This logic is absurd and a clear case of subversion of facts.
- Even if true, allegations pertain to ‘small quantity’ and ‘consumption’ only. And these ‘offences’ no way calls for this kind of harsh punishment.
- Aryan has no criminal antecedents – his record is absolutely clean.
- There is no likelihood of Aryan fleeing.
As per the above logic there is absolutely no valid reason to deny the youngster bail. Can the dispensers of justice pause to think what kind of an impact this torture will have on the young man’s psyche. It will leave him scarred for life and make people doubt the efficacy and neutrality of the judicial system in our country.
Indian law believes in the dictum that a person is innocent till proven guilty. In Aryan’s case he is being treated as guilty till proven innocent. Why this gross travesty of justice?
Contrast Aryan’s case with that of Ashish Sharma. Ashish, the Minister of State for Home Ajay Sharma’s son mowed down 8 innocent farmers who were protesting peacefully in broad daylight and bolted. He has not been brought to justice despite a nationwide furor and clinching evidence.
In our country it is always a case of different strokes for different folks!
I would also like to point out the reaction of Aryan’s family. They have behaved with such dignity. Shah Rukh Khan could have created a media frenzy using his super star status. But he has set an example of grace even in the face of the toughest crisis impacting his family. Aryan himself has behaved in an impeccable manner.
Often, as per our judicial system, people in custody are ‘given’ some kind of a benefit for good behavior. Shouldn’t Aryan at least be given bail on the condition he will report regularly to the authorities? Shouldn’t a youngster be united with his family after undergoing torture for so long. Or should he be punished because his father is a superstar with a mind of his own?
Our country has always believed in the dictum ‘Satyamev Jayate’. Should this glorious ethos be allowed to be further sullied by the powers that be whose hands are tainted by the blood of the innocents in their quest for votes and their lust for power?
I am amazed at the circus that this issue has created diverting the nation’s attention from more pressing issues that need to be addressed. The economy is in doldrums, the unemployment rate is the highest since data has been collected. There are serious issues of National Security due to the confrontation with China but the media and this circus has diverted the nation away from serious issues that need to be discussed and addressed immediately. This has been the modus operandi of the Government/ Modi Media for last couple of years. Whenever there is a serious issue facing the nation, the issue is diverted to other news that is given high media visibility and main issues sidetracked and diverted. This is very sorry state of affairs and people should realize that they are being taken for a ride by the Government and the media that is supporting this government in this endeavor.
(The author is National General Secretary-IndianOverseas Congress USA. He can be reached at dichpally@aol.com)