The Enforcement Directorate ( ED) informed the Bombay High Court that the money laundering investigation against former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede has been shifted from Mumbai to Delhi. Wankhede criticized the decision, labeling it as a “malicious move.”
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made a pivotal move in the ongoing investigation against Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Mumbai. The case, which involves allegations of money laundering linked to a high-profile drug seizure on the Cordelia cruise ship, has been officially transferred from Mumbai to Delhi, as confirmed by the ED to the Bombay High Court.
This transfer is particularly noteworthy due to the involvement of Sameer Wankhede, a figure who became a household name following the arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, in October 2021. The case has since spiraled into a complex legal battle with accusations of bribery, corruption, and now, money laundering.
Advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, representing the ED, articulated the rationale behind the transfer, stating it was done for “administrative reasons.” This move has significant implications for Wankhede, who had sought the Bombay High Court’s intervention to quash the ED’s case against him. Wankhede’s counsel, Advocate Aabad Ponda, criticized the transfer as “malafide,” suggesting a strategic maneuver to undermine Wankhede’s legal recourse. Ponda highlighted the timing of the transfer, noting,
“Till Friday, the ED was sending summons to persons asking them to appear before its Mumbai office. But now, after the petition was filed by Wankhede, the probe has been transferred to Delhi.
“The entire proceedings are already transferred to Delhi. The entire cause of action lies there now. All papers have been sent to Delhi. There is nothing here now,”
Ponda said.
He further argued that this was orchestrated to prevent Wankhede from securing a hearing in the Bombay High Court, which had previously granted him interim protection in a related corruption and extortion case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“The entire proceedings are already transferred to Delhi. The entire cause of action lies there now. All papers have been sent to Delhi. There is nothing here now,”
Advocate Hiten Venegaonkar said.
The backdrop of this legal drama is a CBI FIR that accuses Wankhede of demanding a Rs 25-crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan’s family to spare Aryan Khan in the alleged drug case. Wankhede, in his plea, asserts that the ED’s case “smacks of malice and vendetta.” This assertion gains further complexity considering Wankhede’s recent complaint against NCB’s deputy director Gyaneshwar Singh, leading to allegations of a concerted effort by “a few powerful people” to target him through various agencies.
The narrative took an intriguing turn with claims from an ‘independent witness’ about a bribe demand to let off Aryan Khan, which subsequently led to an internal vigilance probe against Wankhede by the NCB. Despite the chargesheet filed against 14 accused in the drug-on-cruise case, Aryan Khan was exonerated, adding another layer of controversy to the case.
As the investigation shifts to Delhi, the legal and public scrutiny of this case intensifies, raising questions about the integrity of law enforcement agencies and the impact of celebrity influence on legal proceedings. With the next hearing on the horizon, all eyes are on how these developments will unfold, shaping the discourse on justice and accountability in high-profile cases in India.
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