HC Extends Protection From Arrest to Sameer Wankhede In Aryan Case, But Conditions Apply

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended protection from arrest to former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede till June 8 in a case related to the drugs-on-cruise case.

However, he will not be arrested only if the conditions laid out by the court are met. It has asked him not to release WhatsApp chat related to the case, tamper with the evidence and give the undertaking to attend the investigation.

"Petitioner shall not publish any material by way of WhatsApp or any other mode on the subject matter of petition or investigation or give press statement or tamper with evidence in any matter whatsoever," a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court said.

On Friday, a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court granted Wankhede relief against coercive action till May 22.

The next date of the hearing is on June 8.

The case is related to Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who was arrested in the alleged drug bust case on the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2, 2021, on suspicion of cocaine possession. However, he was cleared of all charges due to lack of sufficient evidence after staying in jail for 25 days.

According to the CBI, KP Goswami appeared like an NCB official during the raid on the cruise and was responsible for the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan's son, the FIR accessed by the IANS stated.

The CBI has claimed that 'independent witness' KP Gosavi had planned to extort Rs 25 crores from Aryan Khan's family. However, it was settled at Rs 8 crore and a token amount of Rs 50 lakh as a bribe was paid, but later some money was returned due to the case getting stuck, according to an IANS report.

The CBI booked Wankhede and others for alleged criminal conspiracy (120-B IPC), and threat of extortion (388 IPC) besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), according to a report in PTI.