The Bombay High Court dismissed actor Armaan Kohli’s bail plea in a drugs case on Monday. In a detailed order, Justice Sambre noted, “There is justifying material on record to prima facie infer complicity of Kohli in an offence under Section 27A (financing), 28 and 29 (conspiracy) of the NDPS Act. As such, the very rigour of Section 37 (makes the bailable offences non-bailable) of the NDPS Act is very much attracted."
The HC also maintained that the judgements passed in Rhea Chakraborty and Aryan Khan’s bail pleas can’t be considered in the Kohli case. Justice Sambre added that WhatsApp messages and statements for Kohli indicate that he was involved in an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The Court’s order noted, “The statements recorded under Section 67 of the NDPS Act of Kohli and co-accused confirm with the WhatsApp chat from the mobile of the accused."
The order further stated, "The bank account entries in categorical terms speak of Kohli's involvement in the crime, as the bank entries match with that of the transactions reflected in the statements recorded under Section 66 of the NDPS Act, which is further confirmed with the Whatsapp chat. As such, the complicity of Kohli in the serious crime can be inferred. The investigation against Kohli is still going on."
Armaan Kohli’s lawyer Abaad Ponda argued that only a small quantity of drugs was allegedly seized from Kohli which means that Section 37 shouldn’t apply to the case. Additionally, he argued that the only proof against Kohli are the statements and panchnamas which isn’t enough to invoke Section 29 (conspiracy).
Kohli argued that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) doesn’t have any evidence against him and denied allegations of having financial transactions with drug dealers.
Advocate Ponda argued, “We all know the veracity of WhatsApp messages. If I get some messages, will those messages from them, without any response from me, be admissible evidence? If someone messages me ‘I killed someone’ and ‘I say good’ will that amount to abetment? Of course not!”
Ponda referred to Aryan Khan’s bail judgement for his argument against conspiracy.
The Court noted, “(These) need not to be considered to the benefit of Kohli for the reason as investigation is still going on and there is enough material on record to prima facie infer the involvement of Kohli in serious offence. That being so, no case for bail is made out."
The NCB arrested Armaan Kohli in August for alleged possession of 1.2 grams of cocaine.
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