Kshitij Prasad, who worked as an executive producer with Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment, has sought discharge from the drugs case involving late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, in which he is an accused. Kshitij is being probed by the Narcotics Control Bureau in the Sushant case. In his discharge application, he said that the investigation in his case was done by the same “over-zealous and over-ambitious officer” who had accused Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, in another drugs case. Ultimately, Aryan Khan was not named in the chargesheet in that case because of lack of any evidence against him.
Prasad called the allegations against himself baseless, adding, “The officer had an intention to gain media attention by destabilising and invoking fear in the Bollywood industry. The officer wanted the present applicant (Prasad) to falsely name certain film directors, producers, actors and actresses as consumers or suppliers of drugs.” Kshitij Prasad further explained that when he refused the officer’s request, the case was filed against him. He is currently out on bail.
The said officer is being investigated for shoddy investigation in the Aryan Khan case. It is the prayer of Kshitij that in his case as well, a special investigation team be formed, and the whole case be re-investigated. Draft charges were recently submitted against Prasad and 34 others. The case will come up for hearing on July 27.
The discharge plea added that from the chargesheet, it was clear that the prosecution’s case rested on the “so-called” voluntary statements of the co-accused and witnesses, recorded under section 67 of the NDPS Act, which were inadmissible as evidence. “Only a rolled joint, believed to be smoked ganja, was found lying in a flower pot… of the residence…,” added the discharge plea. “There was no material produced to link the alleged recovery with Prasad. No drugs were ever recovered from his person.”