Bribery case: HC extends Sameer Wankhede's interim protection from coercive action till Jan 10

Mumbai HC extends interim protection to IRS officer Sameer Wankhede till Jan 10 in extortion, bribery case related to Cordelia cruise drugs case. CBI to argue on Jan 10/11. Wankhede seeks to quash FIR lodged by CBI.

The Bombay High Court on November 28 extended till January 10 the interim protection from any coercive action granted to IRS officer Sameer Wankhede, who is named as an accused by the CBI in an extortion and bribery case related to the Cordelia cruise drugs case.

A Division Bench of Justices P.D. Naik and N.R. Borkar said it would hear Mr. Wankhede’s petition seeking to quash the FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on January 10 and 11, 2024.

Advocate Kuldeep Patil, appearing for the CBI, told the court on Nov. 28 that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta would argue on behalf of the CBI on January 10 or 11.

Mr. Wankhede’s counsel Aabad Ponda said he would argue on January 10.

The CBI, in May, lodged the FIR against Mr. Wankhede, former Mumbai Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, and others on the basis of a written complaint issued to them by the NCB.

The Central agency’s case is that Mr. Wankhede and four other accused allegedly demanded ₹25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not framing his son Aryan Khan following the alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship in 2021.

Mr. Wankhede later moved the HC, seeking that the case be quashed. He had also sought interim protection from any coercive action.