NCB summons Karan Johar over a viral video

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on Thursday, December 17, said a notice has been sent to the Bollywood filmmaker and producer Karan Johar in connection with a viral video allegedly showing drugs being consumed at a party at his house in 2019.

The notice has been sent to Karan Johar to check the video's veracity, an NCB official said.

In September, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa had sent the video to NCB demanding probe in the matter, alleging that celebrities used drugs in the party. However, Johar had denied these allegations last year after the video went viral, saying reports of drug consumption at his party were slanderous and malicious.

The Central office then forwarded the complaint at NCB’s Mumbai zonal unit for further investigation.

A senior NCB officer confirmed the development and said that on Wednesday, December 16, the notice was served to Johar and he has to respond to it by Friday, December 18. He need not be physically present to NCB office but has been asked to respond soon.

Sirsa had claimed that he had registered a complaint about this video with the Mumbai police in August last year but no probe was conducted. Later, on September 25, he also tweeted that NCB could soon send the summons to Johar in the drug-related case. However, NCB never summoned Johar.

The complaint was about movie stars apparently seen in a drugged state in the video.

The video features several Bollywood actors, including Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, director Ayan Mukherjee, Zoya Akhtar, and fitness enthusiast Malaika Arora.

The central agency is conducting an anti-drugs probe that began in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June this year.

After the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, several Bollywood celebrities have been questioned in connection with substance use, including Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Arjun Rampal. NCB has also questioned Anubhav Chopra and Kshitij Prasad, and linked them with Dharma Productions.