Delivering stinging punches, former Attorney General ofIndia (AGI) Mukul Rohatgi has said that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) islike "an Ostrich with its head buried in the sand", while the poorrich boy Aryan Khan is "paying the price for being a celeb".
Rohatgi said the law clearly states that "bail isthe norm, jail is an exception" and the issue settled many years ago bythe Supreme Court, since the most established tenet of the Constitution is the'Right to Life' and 'Right to Liberty', not only for Indians, but alsoforeigners in India.
If they want to give him (Khan) bail, it can be doneright away, even on public holidays, he unequivocally declared on a privatenews channel as others were all attentive ears.
"Its incredible that someone remains inside (jail)for so many days without seizure of drugs or any other proof. No medicalexamination, so no consumption. How can he be held in custody when the maxsentence would be one year, assuming he was found with drugs," Rohatgiasserted.
Other prominent personalities who whipped the NCBincluded Shiv Sena leader Kishore Tiwari, designated as MoS, top-notch lawyersVikas Singh and Dr. Pinky Anand, both former Additional Solicitor-Generals ofIndia.
Elsewhere, the Nationalist Congress Party NationalSpokesperson and Minister Nawab Malik is meticulously 'investigating' the NCB'sskeletons, catching it by surprise and rattling its super-sleuths --reminiscent of a similar probe of an ex-CBI Director undertaken by a group ofintrepid journos in the late-1980s.
Rohatgi also trashed the NCB's dark theories of"international conspiracy" wondering who will believe that he (Khan)is a peddler or needed money so was doing it for money, plus he was not even apassenger on the cruise ship but a mere invitee, maybe impromptu at the lastminute.
"WhatsApp chats are not evidence unless dueprocedures of law are followed... Confessions of an accused are not admissibleas evidence without proper safeguards... In this case, (Khan) is clearly payingthe price of being a celeb," Rohatgi said.
He dismissively said that such 'run of the mill cases'come up by dozens daily and nobody even bothers about them, but because here apersonality like Aryan Khan was involved the NCB is unwilling to listen toreason.
Rohatgi's censure of the NCB came even as Khan and theother (male) co-accused, were dumped from a quarantine cell to a general cell,in the august company of other hardcore criminals in the Arthur Road CentralJail (ARCJ), which once housed the Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
Now, since his detention on October 2, and 16 nights awayfrom the 'jannat'(heaven) of Shah Rukh Khan's iconic sea-facing bungalow'Mannat' (prayer) in Bandra west, Aryan has changed to regular jail attire.albeit non-designer variety, with 'N956' allotted as his under-trial prisonerroll-call number.
Last week, the celeb cub was permitted to make anemotional video-call with the Bollywood Lion King Khan and his wife Gauri amidreports that his sister Suhana had taken ill at her brother's continuing stintsin custody.
Though no 'special' treatment is given to Aryan or theother youngsters lodged in separate barracks, each received a money order of Rs4,500 from their families as per jail rules for subsistence.
They can spend this money to buy foods of their choicefrom the modest menu of the ARCJ -- a far cry from Aryan dad's generous wads ofallowances and specially designed lavish cuisines -- no matter, if heoccasionally has to take 'appointments' to meet his Pa at home.
Finally, pulling the NCB's ears, Rohatgi said given thechanged values in modern times, instead of harassing youngsters, the NCB shouldgo after and nab those who are enticing the youth by supplying such 'poisons'(drugs) whether in Punjab or Mumbai or anywhere in the country.