High Court halts CBI 'coercive action' against Wankhede till Monday

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed CBI not to take any 'coercive action' against Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankehde until Monday. Wankehde, the erstwhile Mumbai head of Narcotics Control Bureau, and two other former NCB officers among others have been booked for allegedly demanding ₹25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for 'not framing' his son Aryan in Cordelia cruise 'drug bust' case.

As a part of his petition, Wankhede has attached screenshots of Whatsapp chats purportedly between him and Khan and claimed the latter had no grievance against him and only requested to be 'kind to his son'. The exchanges were shared between October 3 and October 15.

Aryan, his friend Arbaz Merchant and model Munmun Dhamecha were arrested on October 3, 2021, after NCB raids on Cordelia. "Khan has not only praised the petitioner's integrity but also expressed his anguish over political involvement in the matter," as per the petition reviewed by ET.


"Khan himself in all fairness was being persuasive in his conversation with the petitioner to take care of his son as well as to join him and assist him in ensuring reformation of his son to ensure a better life and future of his son... a suggestion of reformation was suggestive of Aryan Khan having engaged into some act of omission or commission under the NDPS Act of which Shah Rukh Khan was aware which led him to persuade the petitioner towards reformation of his son," it adds.

Wankhede has claimed that the conversation between him and Khan continued even while Aryan Khan applied for bail which was dismissed by the session court. Seeking quashing of the FIR, Wankhede has alleged that allegations are borne out of a report prepared by his senior Gnaneshwar Singh who has allegedly "acted out of great malice, vendetta, selfish motives to cover his own tracks".