Bombay HC stays any coercive action against Sameer Wankhede

On Friday, the Bombay high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation not to take any “coercive action” against Wankhede, including arrest, until May 22.

Former Narcotics Control Bureau zonal director Sameer Wankhede is accused of demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise ‘drug bust’ case.

Wankhede, an employee of the Indian Revenue Service who was assigned to the Narcotics Control Bureau in Mumbai in 2021, has filed a petition with the court asking that the Central Bureau of Investigation’s First Information Report against him for extortion and bribery be thrown out.

Wankhede’s promise to appear at the CBI’s office in the Bandra Kurla Complex here at 11 a.m. on Saturday was recorded by a vacation bench of the court, which then issued the order.

The HC said that the CBI cannot take “coercive action” against Wankhede till May 22.