After Aryan Khan gets clean chit from NCB, lawyer Satish Maneshinde wants Rhea Chakraborty drug case re-probed

A day after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) gave a clean chit to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in last year's Cordelia drugs case, lawyer Satish Maneshinde sought a similar enquiry into the drug case against actress Rhea Chakraborty. Interestingly, Maneshinde had represented Aryan Khan as well as Rhea Chakraborty in their cases respectively.

Speaking to India Today, Maneshinde said no drugs were found on Rhea and her brother Shovik. There were just WhatsApp chats, he added.

“There should be enquiry in Rhea Chakraborty and Shovik case as well. No drugs were found on them. No tests were done. For the last three years, the NCB has troubled a lot of people and action is needed against these officials. There were just WhatsApp chats and no test was done. When Aryan Khan case showed that false case was made, which had continued since Rhea Chakraborty’s time, then new investigation was opened," he said.

The senior lawyer has also demanded action against former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede.

Coming back to the Cordelia drugs case, the NCB in a statement said the team that arrested Aryan and 19 others did a "shoddy" probe and the SIT created to re-investigate the case found "grave irregularities" in their action like not conducting mandatory medical test of the accused, no video recording of the raids or no corroborative evidence against WhatsApp chats.

NCB director general SN Pradhan said it was a case of "underwhelming evidence" as compared to the golden principle of gathering "overwhelming evidence" against the accused.

The NCB also said in a statement it applied "the touchstone of the principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt" while re-probing this case.

Published on: Saturday, May 28, 2022, 08:07 PM IST