The Bombay high court on Monday rejected the bail plea of actor and former Bigg Boss contestant Armaan Kohli in a drugs-related case. The actor had moved the high court after a special court had rejected his bail application citing prima facie evidence of trafficking and purchase of drugs against Kohli.
NCB, however, opposed the bail application by filing an affidavit, stating that Kohli's role in the case is serious and grave. It further highlighted the fact that Kohli has been booked under serious charges of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and thus shouldn’t be released on bail.
Kohli’s lawyer Vinod Chate pleaded his client is innocent and has been falsely implicated. In the court, Kohli pleaded that Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) did not have any incriminating evidence against him. He said the observations of the special court were merely based on general allegations against him. Kohli also maintained there were no financial transactions between him and the alleged drug peddlers.
The high court observed that WhatsApp chats between Kohli and the peddlers needed to be investigated. It added there was a chance of the evidence being tampered with while rejecting the bail application.
However, the court granted bail to two co-accused in the case-Kareem Dhanani and Imran Ansari.
Kohli was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau after 1.2 grams of cocaine was seized from his residence during a raid in August 2021. The Bollywood actor has been lodged at the Arthur Road jail since then.