The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has committed not to arrest Sameer Wankhede, the former Mumbai Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), until the next hearing in a money laundering case at the Bombay High Court. Wankhede is under investigation for alleged money laundering, which he has challenged in court. The ED recently transferred the case to its Delhi office, prompting Wankhede to seek relief from the Bombay HC. The next hearing is scheduled for February 20.
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the Bombay High Court not to arrest, Sameer Wankhede, the former Mumbai Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), until the next hearing concerning a money laundering case in the Bombay High Court (HC). Wankhede was accused of money laundering, he has contested in the Bombay HC with a plea to dismiss the case against him. The next court hearing is scheduled for February 20.
Wankhede, who approached the Bombay High Court seeking relief, has additionally requested a temporary stay to the investigation and safeguarding against coercive measures like arrest until his petition receives a verdict. His legal counsel, Aabad Ponda, argued before a division bench that the ED’s transfer of the probe was driven by malicious intent.
Aabad Ponda highlighted the sudden transfer of the probe to Delhi after Wankhede’s petition filing, alleging it as a tactic to prevent a hearing before the Bombay HC, which previously granted him interim relief from coercive actions in a corruption and extortion case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In defense of the investigation transfer, Advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, representing the ED, cited administrative reasons, emphasizing that all proceedings had been transferred to Delhi and that the cause of action now lies there.
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During a recent court hearing, the central probe agency disclosed its decision to transfer the case to its Delhi office. In response, Wankhede, who initiated legal action in the Bombay High Court to quash the case, was advised to pursue his plea in the Delhi High Court instead.
The ED initiated a money laundering case against Wankhede based on the CBI’s FIR, where he was accused of demanding Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s family to exonerate his son, Aryan Khan, in an alleged drugs case.
Wankhede, an IRS officer from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, contends that the ED’s case is driven by malice and vendetta. His case surged after the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, in connection with an alleged drug seizure on the Cordelia cruise ship in October 2021.
Subsequently, the NCB filed a charge sheet against 14 individuals involved in the case, clearing Aryan Khan’s name. However, allegations surfaced from an ‘independent witness’ claiming that Rs 25 crore was demanded by an NCB official and others to secure Aryan Khan’s release, prompting an internal vigilance probe against Wankhede by the NCB.
