Bribery Case: Interim Protection to Sameer Wankhede Extended till June 8

GG News Bureau

Mumbai, 22nd May. The interim protection granted to former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede in a case in which he is accused of demanding a Rs 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise ‘drug bust’ case was extended by the Bombay High Court on Monday until June 8.

The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive action against the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer till May 22.

A vacation bench of justices Abhay Ahuja and M M Sathaye on Monday extended Wankhede’s interim protection from any coercive action, such as arrest, while hearing his plea seeking quashing of the CBI’s FIR against him.

The bench also directed Wankhede to give an undertaking that he will not talk to the media about the case, appear before the CBI as and when called, and not tamper with evidence.

The CBI recently filed a FIR against Wankhede for allegedly demanding a Rs 25 crore bribe in exchange for not indicting Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

On the basis of a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the investigation agency arrested Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat, as well as bribery provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The agency claims that in October 2021, the NCB, Mumbai Zone, received information about the consumption and possession of narcotics by various individuals on the private cruise ship, and that some of its officers conspired and obtained an unfair advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused.

Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 after a raid on the Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him.