The Bombay High Court has requested the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit the case diary before deciding the continuation or removal of an interim order that protects former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede from arrest in a Rs 25 Crore extortion case related to the 2021 Cruise Ship Drugs Case involving the arrest of Aryan Khan. The court has directed the CBI to produce the case diary by June 27 and has extended the protection granted to Wankhede.
The learned Court observed ambiguity in CBI’s response concerning issuing an arrest notice per Section 41A of CrPC. The bench instructed the agency to declare that they would not arrest Wankhede unless the requirements of subsections 3 and 4 of Section 41A CrPC were met. The court warned the CBI against presenting a façade of compliance with the notice under Section 41A CrPC.
Wankhede, an IRS officer and former head of the NCB Zonal Unit, has filed a petition in the High Court challenging the FIR registered against him and five others by the CBI. The agency has accused them of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore concerning the arrests made during the Cordelia Cruise Ship Case involving Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan. The case mentioned above has been under scrutiny for alleged acts of bribery and extortion, prompting an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.