2 min readMumbaiApr 27, 2026 12:09 PM IST
A Mumbai special court has discharged hotelier Kunal Jani for lack of evidence in a drugs case filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). He was arrested along with three others in 2020 in a case filed after the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Jani, co-founder of Bastian Hospitality, stated in his discharge plea that he was arrested by the central agency solely on the basis of a co-accused’s statement, which is not admissible in law.
“…it is seen that the case of the prosecution against the applicant rests upon his own statement, which is not admissible in the eyes of law. In the backdrop of facts, evidence and law, there is no material on record to frame the charge against the applicant/accused. Therefore, relying upon his statement, conducting trial and inquiry against the applicant would be futile exercise,” Special Judge U C Deshmukh said in an order passed on April 25.
In 2020, Uka Emeka was allegedly found with 4 g of cocaine, and the NCB arrested two others—Kshitij Prasad, a former employee of Karan Johar’s production house, and Agisilaos Demetriades, the brother of Arjun Rampal’s partner. It then arrested Jani, claiming he had links with the other accused.
The NCB recorded Jani’s statement in January 2021, claiming he had admitted to being acquainted with Demetriades. He submitted to the court that this alleged statement was not admissible as evidence and that the NCB had no other proof to link him to any drugs case.
The court noted that Emeka was alleged to have revealed the names of his customers, but Jani’s name was not among them.
“Even for the sake of discussion, on perusal of such statement, it does not reveal any incriminating circumstance against the applicant,” the court said.
