Mumbai Mar 31 PTI A special court here on Thursday granted 60 days extension to the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB to file a charge sheet in the drugs-on-cruise case in which Aryan Khan son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is an accused The probe agency had on Monday filed an application before special judge V V Patil seeking a 90-day extension to file a charge sheet in the case since the investigation in the high-profile case was still on However the judge after hearing arguments of both the prosecution and defence lawyers gave the probe agency another 60 days to file a charge sheet in the case The NCB through a special public prosecutor had argued that there were compelling reasons to seek the extension Aryan Khan was named an accused in the case along with 19 others by the NCB last year The 24-year-old was arrested by the NCB on October 3 last year following a raid on a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai The accused persons were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act for alleged possession consumption salepurchase of banned drugs conspiracy and abetment among others The probe agency has claimed that the chemical examination reports of all the 17 samples were received on March 12 which proved that the entire contraband recovered during the raid was narcoticspsychotropic drugs The central probe agency stated that some of the accused are highly influential persons and have incriminating chats with foreign nationals who are also located outside India Examination of such chats is in progress as foreign nationals are involved it said Due to the severe COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country from November 2021 to February 2022 the response has been delayed from the foreign agencies the plea said Seeking time to file a charge-sheet the NCB in its plea claimed that the investigation was almost complete with respect to six accused as their role is intertwined and interconnected The examination and recording of voluntary statements of K P Gosavi the main panch witness during the two recoveries made on October 2 2021 is not complete as he is under judicial custody in other cases it said Further the NCB said that the second panch witness - Prabhakar Sail - has turned hostile and his purported affidavit in this regard is still pending before the court Thus in such a situation examining Gosavi becomes necessary and pivotal to unearth the true and correct facts of this case Of the 20 arrested accused in the case only two - Abdul Kadar and Chinedu Igwe - are currently in judicial custody and the rest are out on bail Opposing the probe agencys plea Kadars lawyer Kushal Mor submitted that the probe agency has filed the application only to keep him behind the bars Further he argued that there is no justifiable reason to seek the extension Appearing for Igwe advocate Ayaz Khan submitted that they were handicapped because of non supply of report submitted to the court by the prosecution My right to express is affected he added As per the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC the drug law enforcement agency was supposed to file the charge-sheet in the October 2021 case within 180 days of the arrest of the accused If the charge-sheet is not filed within the stipulated period than the accused can seek default bail as per the provisions of CrPC In case a prosecuting agency requires further time the CrPC allows it to seek a maximum extension of another 90 days to file such a document PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Nov 24 PTI BJPs Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case appeared before a special NIA court here on Wednesday She appeared before special judge P R Sitre hearing cases related to the National Investigation Agency NIA Thakurs lawyer said that although the court had not summoned the MP she appeared on her own as she was in Mumbai for her medical treatment The BJP leader had last appeared before the court in the case in January this year Seven persons including Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit are facing trial in the case A total of eight witnesses have turned hostile in the case so far Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town in north Maharashtra on September 29 2008 According to police the motorbike was registered in Thakurs name and that led to her arrest in 2008 The Bombay High Court had granted bail to her in 2017 She is being tried under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act UAPA and other relevant laws PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Oct 30 PTI A special court here on Saturday granted bail to alleged drug peddler Aachit Kumar and six others arrested in a drugs seizure case in which Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khans son Aryan Khan is one of the accused Special court judge V V Patil hearing cases related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act granted bail to the seven accused With this 12 of the 20 arrested accused have got bail in the high-profile case so far Earlier the NDPS court had denied bail to Aryan Khan However the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to him and his two co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha The NCB had claimed that it had arrested Aachit Kumar based on the statements of Aryan Khan and Arbaaz Merchant The agency has alleged that he used to supply drugs to Aryan Khan The other accused whose bail pleas were allowed by the special court on Saturday are Nupur Satija Gomit Chopra Gopalji Anand Samir Sehgal Manav Singhal and Bhaskar Arora The courts detailed bail order is yet to be made available On October 26 the special court had granted bail to two other accused in the case - Manish Rajgaria and Avin Sahu They were the first ones to get bail in this case On October 2 the NCB had raided the cruise ship and claimed to have seized banned drugs Earlier on Saturday Aryan Khan walked out of the Arthur Road jail in central Mumbai where he was lodged for the last 22 days following his arrest in the case PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Oct 22 PTI A city-based lawyer on Friday filed a criminal complaint against lyricist Javed Akhtar before a magistrate court here over his alleged remark against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS made during a television interview The complaint against Akhtar was filed before the metropolitan magistrate court in Mulund for the offence under section 499 defamation 500 punishment for defamation Akhtar 76 in a recent interview had drawn parallels between the Taliban and Hindu extremists The complainant Santosh Dubey who claims to be an RSS supporter alleged that Akhtar with a view to gain political score unnecessarily dragged the name of the RSS and defamed the organisation in a calculated and well planned move The statement made by the accused during an interview was well planned to defame the RSS as well as to discourage and misguide the people who have joined the RSS or would like to join the organisation the complaint said The accused is very much aware that there is no similarity in thoughts ideology philosophy mindsets and way of functioning of RSS and Taliban in any manner but with the ill-intention to malign damage injure and harm the prestige good-will image of RSS the accused has deliberately and intentionally made false defamatory imputation and imaginary statements it added The court will record the statement of the complainant in the next hearing to be held on November 16 Dubey had earlier lodged a complaint against Akhtar in this connection based on which the Mulund police had registered an FIR under IPC section 500 against the veteran lyricist Last month the lawyer had sent a legal notice to Akhtar and sought an apology from him for making such statements PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Oct 21 PTI A court here on Thursday rejected Bollywood actor Kangana Ranauts petition seeking transfer of the criminal defamation case filed against her by lyricist Javed Akhtar The actor had filed the transfer petition before the chief metropolitan magistrate last month saying that she had lost faith in the magistrates court hearing the case as it indirectly threatened her of issuing a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence However Akhtar had earlier opposed the petition saying that it was devoid of all merits and is liable to be dismissed at the very threshold The veteran lyricist had alleged that the plea was filed only to delay the proceedings before the Andheri metropolitan magistrate court which is currently presiding over the case After hearing arguments from both the sides the court rejected Ranauts petition However a detailed order is yet to be made available Akhtar 76 had filed the complaint in the court in November last year claiming that Ranaut had made defamatory statements against him in a television interview which allegedly damaged his reputation The complaint is being heard by metropolitan magistrate court Andheri In his complaint Akhtar claimed that Ranaut dragged his name during an interview while referring to a coterie existing in Bollywood following the alleged suicide by actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June last year Ranaut has also moved a counter complaint in the Andheri court against Akhtar for alleged extortion and criminal intimidation before the metropolitan magistrate court The actor in her complaint against Akhtar said that following her public dispute with her co-star the lyricist had called her and her sister Rangoli Chandel to his house with malafide intentions and ulterior motives and then criminally intimidated and threatened her As per the complaint Akhtar had forced Ranaut to tender a written apology to her co-star PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Sep 22 PTI An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge on Wednesday re-issued its bailable warrant against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it in connection with the corruption allegations levelled by him against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh Special public prosecutor in the case Shishir Hirey confirmed this development In March this year the Maharashtra government had formed the one-member commission of retired judge Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to probe Singhs allegations against Deshmukh The commission had issued summonses to Singh multiple times asking him to appear before it However he has failed to do so Therefore the panel had issued a bailable warrant against him on September 7 But as the warrant couldnt be served upon him it was now re-issued till October 6 he said Earlier the commission had thrice imposed fines on Singh - Rs 5000 in June and Rs 25000 on two occasions last month - for failing to appear before it Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March Singh had claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai Deshmukh an NCP leader resigned as a minister in April this year although he has denied the allegations against him The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by the senior IPS officer PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Sep 18 PTI Businessman Raj Kundra an accused in the pronographic content case on Saturday moved a bail application in a court here claiming that he was being made a scapegoat and that there was not a single evidence in the supplementary charge sheet of him being actively involved in creation of alleged questionable content The crime branch probing the case had recently filed a supplementary charge-sheet against Kundra and three others in the case pertaining to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps After that the accused approached the metropolitan court for bail saying that the investigation in the case was practically over Kundra husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty was arrested July 19 by after being booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act He is currently in judicial custody In the bail filed through advocate Prashant Patil Kundra claimed that there is not a single iota of evidence till date with the prosecution that would connect the app Hotshots with an offence under law As per the probe agency the Hotshots app was being used by the accused for uploading and streaming obscene content The bail plea also said that there is not a single allegation in the entire supplementary charge sheet against the present applicant Kundra that he was actively involved in any of the video shootings In fact it is a sole discretion of the individual artists to upload their contents on the app the plea said The contents of the complaint do not disclose any prima-facie offence against Kundra the application said It further claimed that Kundra was falsely implicated in the case He was not named in the FIR and he has been dragged by the respondent police it added For the reasons best known to the investigating agencies he is being made a scapegoat it said The investigation so far clearly shows that Kundra was not involved in any offence even in a remotest way in creating the alleged questionable content Further he is not even related to the process of uploading or broadcasting of the alleged questionable content the bail plea added The court will the bail application on Monday PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Sep 18 PTI The Enforcement Directorate ED has moved a court here against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh for failing to appear before the probe agency despite being summoned multiple times in a money laundering case The ED filed the plea in a special court on Friday seeking action against Deshmukh under IPC section 174 non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant The section attracts a simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or fine up to five hundred rupees or both The probe agency had issued multiple summonses to Deshmukh in the money laundering case registered against him by it However the NCP leader has failed to appear before it so far Two of Deshmukhs aides - Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde - have been arrested in the case They are currently in the judicial custody Besides the duo the probe agency in its charge-sheet filed recently has also named dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze as an accused However Deshmukh or his family members have not been made accused in the charge sheet The ED launched a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh accused him of corruption Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from city bars and hotels every month a charge denied by the former minister Deshmukh resigned a minister in April this year PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Sep 17 PTI Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab and his then cabinet colleague Anil Deshmukh allegedly received Rs 40 crore from 10 DCPs in Mumbai to reverse the order of their transfer issued by the then city police commissioner Param Bir Singh dismissed police officer Sachin Waze has claimed in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate ED This statement is part of charge sheet filed recently by the ED against Deshmukhs former personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde in connection with a money laundering case In July 2020 Param Bir Singh had issued an order of transfer of 10 DCPs in Mumbai Waze in his statement claimed that Deshmukh who was then the home minister and Parab were not happy with the transfer order issued by Singh Later I came to know that a sum of Rs 40 crore was collected from the police officers listed in the transfer order Out of that Rs 20 crore each were given to Anil Deshmukh and Anil Parab Waze claimed Besides the arrested duo - Palande and Shinde - the charge-sheet filed in the money laundering case also names Waze as an accused However neither Deshmukh an NCP leader nor his family members were named as accused in the charge sheet Palande and Shinde are currently in judicial custody in the case Waze an assistant police inspector in Mumbai was arrested in March this year in connection with the explosives-SUV found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis south Mumbai residence and the murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran The charge-sheet says that Palande and Shinde had played a key role in the money laundering case The central agency said its probe has revealed that Deshmukh used to call Waze about handing over money collected from bars and restaurants For instance between January and February 2021 Waze handed over 16 bags containing Rs 46 crore to Shinde while Palande was instrumental in passing on the instructions of the NCP leader to Waze The ED launched a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed an FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 following allegations of corruption made by Param Bir Singh Singh was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner in March this year while Deshmukh resigned as a minister in April PTI AVI NP NP

Mumbai Aug 25 PTI An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 25000 on former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it a government lawyer said The commission slapped a fine on Singh for the second time within a week and for the third time so far for his failure to appear before it despite being summoned multiple times The Maharashtra government had in March this year formed a one-member commission of Justice retd Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh On August 18 the commission had asked Singh to pay a similar amount of fine for not appearing before it while in June the senior IPS officer was ordered to pay Rs 5000 fine for the same reason The amount was to be deposited in the Chief Ministers COVID-19 Relief Fund The government lawyer said that Singh is yet to pay any of the fines Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police chief and transferred to the Home Guards in March this year Singh had claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from the owners of restaurants and bars in Mumbai Deshmukh an NCP leader has been denying the allegations However he stepped down as the home minister in April The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by Singh The commission has posted the matter for further hearing on August 30 PTI AVI NP NP