The special NDPS court recently allowed model Munmun Dhamecha, booked in connection with the Cordelia cruise drug bust case, to travel to Thailand for her modelling assignment, observing that it is necessary for her to travel abroad for her work purpose.
Dhamecha's plea
Dhamecha had approached the court, seeking permission to travel to Phuket from Delhi, as she resides there, from January 26-31 for her modelling assignment. In her plea, she claimed that she is from a middle-class family and that modelling is her only source of earning. The plea further said that after a long gap, she has received an assignment for photo shoots at Phuket in Thailand. Therefore, it is necessary to travel abroad, it added.
Raising objection, the special public prosecutor said that the offence is serious and Dhamecha may abscond and delay the trial if permitted to travel abroad. After hearing both sides, the court said, "Considering the reason as assigned by the applicant that she is a model by profession and it is necessary for her to travel abroad for her work purpose, I think it proper to allow this application."
Details about the drugs bust case
Dhamecha, along with Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, and Arbaaz Merchant, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) following a raid on the ship on October 3, 2021. A special enquiry team later let off Aryan. The NCB officials claimed that they had found five grams of hashish in the room booked in the model’s name.
In her defence, Dhamecha claimed that she was not found in possession of the narcotics, nor was she found to have consumed it. The officials found some drugs on the other girl who was to share the room with her, but she was let off, she had averred.
