Bribery case: Bombay HC extends interim relief to Sameer Wankhede till June 8

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

Last Friday, the HC had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive 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 an FIR against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood star’s son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.

The probe agency has booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat, besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, on a complaint by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

The agency has alleged that the NCB, Mumbai Zone, received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship and some of its officers conspired and obtained undue 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.