Bombay HC Grants Sameer Wankhede Extension of Relief from Arrest Until March 27

The relief from arrest granted to former Mumbai Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Sameer Wankhede, was extended by the Bombay High Court on Friday until March 27 in relation to a money laundering case. The case has been postponed until March 27 by the court. Following the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) request for more time to submit a brief response to Sameer Wankhede’s petition contesting the ED’s Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against him, the case was postponed. A formal complaint filed by the ED is recorded in the ECIR. In the Bombay High Court, Wankhede has contested the ECIR and attempted to have the case against him thrown out.

Additionally, a hearing regarding Wankhede’s case against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been scheduled by the Bombay High Court for the same day. The Solicitor General would personally appear before the court on that date, the court was informed. The Enforcement Directorate opened a money laundering case against Wankhede on February 10 after receiving a complaint from the CBI alleging that Wankhede demanded a bribe of Rs 25 crore from the family of actor Shah Rukh Khan in order to spare his son from the drugs on cruise case. The fact that the Bombay High Court is disputing the CBI FIR, which is the foundation of the ED’s ECIR, had taken Wankhede by surprise.

The CBI charged Wankhede with a crime last year after it was alleged that he had demanded Rs 25 crore as bribe to drop actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan from the drugs-on-cruise case. The agency stated that Wankhade’s assets were out of proportion to his known sources of income and that the deal was closed for Rs 18 crore. According to the copy of the FIR, he was unable to defend the costs he had incurred while traveling abroad.