Relief to Fardeen Khan in cocaine case

In major relief for Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan, a Mumbai court on Thursday allowed his plea that he be charged for possessing only one gram of cocaine, for which the maximum jail term is six months.

The court also ordered the police to frame charges against Khan for possessing the banned narcotic drug.

Fardeen was booked under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after he was arrested outside a bank ATM in Juhu on May 5, 2001, while allegedly attempting to purchase a gram of cocaine.

Fardeen had tried to buy the cocaine from drug trafficker Nasir Abdul Karim, who was nabbed with a larger quantity of drugs intended for sale.

In his application to the NDPS court a few months ago, Fardeen claimed that he had attempted to buy only one gram of cocaine. He had earlier pleaded to the Bombay High Court that the charges be framed only for possessing one gram of the drug.

Fardeen's lawyer Ayaz Khan told IANS on Thursday: "NDPS judge PN Deshmukh allowed Fardeen's application by which he can be charged only for the possession of one gram cocaine."

Khan added that the maximum punishment for keeping less than two grams is five years, and for more than two grams it is ten years.

In his earlier application to the high court, Fardeen had admitted he used drugs on six to seven occasions to combat professional stress.