Cordelia Cruise drugs case: Won't arrest Sameer Wankhede till Feb 20, ED informs Bombay HC

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that it will not arrest Sameer Wankhede, former zonal director of Mumbai unit of Narcotics Control Bureau, till February 20.

The case is based on an FIR alleging Wankhede and others extorted money from actor Shah Rukh Khan. Wankhede filed a plea in the High Court last week in an attempt to quash the ED case and obtain a stay of the investigation and protection from any coercive measures.

During the hearing, a division bench of Justices PD Naik and NR Borkar stated that it would not be able to hear the petition until Tuesday (February 20) due to a lack of time on Thursday and Friday and the fact that courts are not in session on Monday.

The Court stated that the case needed to be heard in full and asked the ED's Advocate, Sandesh Patil, to clarify if the agency planned to detain Wankhede until then. After seeking instructions, Patil informed the court that Wankhede would not be taken into custody by the agency until February 20, which was noted by the Bench. Patil argued before the court that since the ECIR has been moved to the Delhi office of the ED, Wankhede would have to go to that court owing to the ‘cause of action’ factor. 

However, Advocate Aabad Ponda, appearing for Wankhede apprised the Bench that he was ordered to go to the Mumbai court after the IRS officer had approached the Delhi court against the CBI's corruption and extortion case, which is the predicate offence (based on which the ED commenced its inquiry). 
Ponda added that Wankhede is still protected from arrest in the CBI case, having received temporary protection from the High Court last year.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Wankhede after taking cognisance of an FIR registered by CBI over an alleged Rs 25 crore bribe demand from Superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s family to spare his son in Cordelia cruise drugs case.