Cruise Ship Drug Bust Bribery Case: Bombay High Court Extends Sameer Wankhede’s Interim Protection From Arrest Till September 7

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended till September 7 the interim protection from coercive action granted to IRS officer and former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede in the bribery case related to the drug bust on a cruise ship in 2021. 

A bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Rajesh Patil said it would hear Wankhede’s plea on September 5 after it was told that he would argue on the date. The bench was informed that Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta would appear for the central agency on September 7. 

The CBI had registered a case against Wankhede for allegedly demanding ₹25 crore to not include the name of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case. 

The HC is hearing a petition filed by Wankhede seeking quashing of the CBI case against him alleging that he was being targeted. In May, the HC granted Wankhede interim protection from coercive action.

In July, Wankhede had urged the court to direct the CBI not to give any information about the investigation to the media. His counsel Aabad Ponda had argued that as per Section 7A of the amended Prevention of Corruption Act, the bribe giver should also be prosecuted along with the bribe taker.