Mukul Rohatgi to represent Aryan Khan's bail plea hearing in drugs case at Bombay HC today

Former attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi will represent Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, when his bail plea in the cruise ship drugs case is heard by the Bombay high court on Tuesday.

Along with Aryan Khan's bail application, the high court is scheduled to hear the pleas of co-accused Arbaaz Seth Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha later in the day, too.

Apart from Mukul Rohatgi, a battery of advocates, including celebrated lawyer Satish Maneshinde, Amit Desai and Anandini Fernandes and partners of law firms Karanjawala & Co and Desai Desai Carrimjee & Mulla, will be representing Aryan Khan in the case at the high court.

Aryan Khan has been in jail since October 7 following arrest in the aftermath of the Narcotics Control Bureau officials led by its zonal head Sameer Wankhede raiding a Goa-bound luxury cruise ship off the Mumbai coast to seize a cache of drugs on October 2.

Following the raid, Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3 and was sent to judicial custody on October 7.

So far all his bail pleas have been rejected even though he was not found with any drugs. Along with Khan, at least eight people, including his friend Arbaaz Seth Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha, were detained by NCB officials.

A special NDPS court rejected the bail plea of Aryan Khan on October 20 and extended his judicial custody till October 30. The special court ruled that certain WhatsApp chats showed Aryan Khan's "involvement in illegal drugs activities" and his "nexus with peddlers and suppliers of banned drugs".

The NCB even hinted at the use of darknet in transactions for procuring drugs.

The NCB argued before the special NDPS court last week that Aryan Khan was in "conscious possession" of illegal drugs as the agency found at least 6 grams of charas from Arbaaz Merchant, who allegedly admitted to the investigators that they intended to use it for "consumption and enjoyment."

On Sunday, Prabhakar Sail, a key witness in the cruise ship drugs raid case, made a revelation in an affidavit about a ₹8 crore pay-off to Wankhede. Sail was hired as a bodyguard by private investigator KP Gosavi, whose photo with Aryan Khan inside a NCB office went viral earlier this month.

Gosavi reportedly accompanied the NCB team during the raid on the cruise ship and is now absconding.

The NCB has ordered a probe into the allegations of extortion after a local court in Mumbai refused to dismiss the affidavit of Sail. Wankhede refuted the charges and said he was ready to face probe.