Online Desk:
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan walked out of Mumbai’s high-security Arthur Road prison to a rapturous welcome on Saturday morning, more than three weeks after his arrest in a cruise-on-drugs case.
Aryan was received outside the jail gate by none other than his father, and greeted by thousands of Shah Rukh’s fans. He had been in judicial custody since October 8.
The 23-year-old and his two friends — Arbaz Merchant and Mummun Dhamecha — were granted bail by the High Court in Mumbai on Thursday, as Shah Rukh roped in some of India’s top legal minds to argue for bail for Aryan in the drugs case.
On Friday afternoon, Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla, Shah Rukh’s close friend and co-star in many movies, went to the sessions court in Mumbai and signed Aryan’s bail bond of Indian rupees one lakh.
Among the 14 bail conditions listed by the Mumbai High Court are that Aryan, Arbaz and Mummun can’t leave the country and make any attempt to influence any witness in the drugs case. They were also asked to submit their passports to the court.
Aryan, particularly, has been asked to visit the federal anti-narcotics agency’s Mumbai office every Friday and join investigations whenever required. If any of the conditions is violated, his bail could be cancelled.
Aryan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 after hours of grilling in connection with a rave party the federal agency busted on board a cruise ship off Mumbai coast a day before.
During arguments in the High Court, the federal prosecutors told judges that this was not a case of drugs consumption only, “but that of conspiracy too”, and that Aryan had tried to sell narcotics in commercial quantity after procuring the same.
On Tuesday, India’s former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who was roped in by Shah Rukh, argued in the court that Aryan was a “young man who should be sent to a rehab centre rather than jail”. He also crushes the federal prosecutors’ theory of conspiracy.
On the evening of October 2 evening, some 30 NCB sleuths, disguised as passengers, boarded luxury cruise liner ‘Empress’ which departed Mumbai port for the neighbouring state of Goa.
The cruise ship was carrying mostly celebrities from Bollywood and the fashion industry. As soon as the rave party began, the NCB sleuths swung into action and claimed to have caught red-handed those having drugs.
Aryan, his close friend Arbaaz, and eight others were soon detained. While two of the detainees had been freed after questioning, Aryan and seven others were subsequently arrested by the NCB.
Aryan’s father Shah Rukh is considered the most talented Bollywood star. Popularly called the “King Khan”, he has acted in over 80 films in a career spanning over 25 years.
Shah Rukh, in fact, rose to prominence after starring in 1995 romantic film ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, the longest-running blockbuster in the history of Indian cinema. The film was shot in India and Europe.
Some of his other blockbusters include ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ (1997) and ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ (1998). Shah Rukh was also widely praised for his superb performance in 2002 film ‘Devdas’, where he played an alcoholic.
The 55-year-old has also anchored many TV shows, and owns production company Red Chillies Entertainment and Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders.
Shah Rukh has a net worth of USD 700 million. The superstar is married to interior designer Gauri Chibber, a Punjabi Hindu. Apart from Suhana, they have two sons.
