The Bombay High Court granted bail to a Nigerian national accused in the Cordelia cruise ship drug case in which Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, was also named as accused before being granted a clean chit, a lawyer said on Wednesday.
Justice N J Jamadar directed Chinedu Igwe to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh along with sureties of the same amount and further directed him to appear in the office of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Mumbai once every month for three years or till the conclusion of the trial, whichever is earlier.
It also said, subject to deportation proceedings which may be initiated against the applicant, he shall not leave India without prior permission of the special court.
Arrested by NCB in 2021, Igwe was the last accused in the case who was yet to get bail.
The NCB had claimed that ecstasy tablets weighing 15 gram were seized from him.
Igwe had approached the HC after a special court had rejected his bail plea in March noting that prima facie there was evidence of his involvement in the case.
‘Having regard to the number of accused, and the number of witnesses, which the prosecution may be required to examine, it is extremely unlikely that the trial can be concluded within a reasonable period. I am, therefore, impelled to hold that, in the facts of the case, the statutory restrictions in the matter of grant of bail, may melt down in the face of a long period of incarceration,” Justice Jamadar .
