Aryan Khan drugs case: Special NDPS Court under pressure to be pro-prosecution, not to be accused-friendly?

MUMBAI: After the Special NDPS court in Mumbai rejected the bail applications of three accused including Aryan Khan, who have already spent nearly two weeks in custody, several human rights activists, lawyers and intellectuals across the nation, took to social media to state how the criminal justice system in the country has been hijacked by vested interests and can be weaponized and turned against any individual or organisation, when required.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan wrote on Twitter:

Others said the Special NDPS court officiating over drug cases in Mumbai is under pressure from certain vested interests to delay the granting of bail, not to be seen as accused-friendly and to tow the prosecution line or to be pro-prosecution.

Most of the time, the Presiding Officers and judges or magistrates of such trail courts do not want to antagonize the prosecution agency – in this case the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and quietly decide to tow the prosecution line blindly. They do not want to be seen as taking independent and “strong” decisions and prefer to bend or lean towards the prosecution in “difficult” or “high-profile” cases.

Senior NDPS advocate Ayaz Khan (who is appearing for Nupur Satija), reacting to the developments over the last two weeks, said that it was the first time in his career spanning 29 years as an NDPS lawyer, that an Additional Solicitor General (ASG) has appeared for the prosecution in police custody matters.