Karan Johar, Bollywood filmmaker, said there was no drug consumption at a party at his house in 2019, in response to a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) notice issued to him on Thursday, reported PTI on Friday.
The anti-drugs agency had issued a notice to Johar based on a complaint by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who shared a video posted by Johar on social media. The video featured top actors from the Hindi film industry, including Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal, Arjun Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and wife Mira Rajput, Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Malaika Arora Khan, among others, at a house party hosted by Johar on July 28, 2019.
The NCB has asked Johar to furnish details of the party.
#UDTABollywood – Fiction Vs Reality
Watch how the high and mighty of Bollywood proudly flaunt their drugged state!!
I raise my voice against #DrugAbuse by these stars. RT if you too feel disgusted @shahidkapoor @deepikapadukone @arjunk26 @Varun_dvn @karanjohar @vickykaushal09 pic.twitter.com/aBiRxwgQx9
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) July 30, 2019
Johar has maintained that “no drug was consumed at the party”.
This is not the first time that Johar has issued a clarification on the video. In September 2020, Johar issued a statement saying, “Certain news channels, print/electronic media and social media platform(s) are wrongly and misleadingly reporting that narcotics were consumed at a party that I, Karan Johar hosted on July 28, 2019 at my residence.”
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Johar furhter said, “In view of the current malicious campaign, I am reiterating that the allegations are completely baseless and false. No narcotics substance was consumed in the party. I WOULD LIKE TO UNEQUIVOCALLY ONCE AGAIN STATE THAT I DO NOT CONSUME NARCOTICS AND I DO NOT PROMOTE OR ENCOURAGE CONSUMPTION OF ANY SUCH SUBSTANCE.”
The death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June this year led the anti-drugs agency to investigate Hindi film industry personalities in connection with drug consumption. Actors including Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor have been investigated, and actor Rhea Chakraborty was arrested and released on bail recently.