NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to former NCB Mumbai Zonal Director, Sameer Wankhede in connection with the Aryan Khan bribery case.
A bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan
ordered that no coercive measures should be taken against Wankhede for five days, till May 22.
The court asked him to approach the Bombay High Court for further relief.
The CBI lodged a case against Wankhede for alleged attempt to extort a sum ot around Rs 25 crore from Aryan's father, Bollywood's actor, Shahrukh Khan.
Wankhede, however, vehemently denied the charges levelled by the CBI.
According to the CBI FIR lodged on May 11, 2023, the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was allegedly extorted and threatened to pay Rs 25 crore to save his son Aryan Khan in a drugs case.
Independent witness K P Gosavi, whose selfie with Aryan Khan went viral, tried to allegedly extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan on behalf of the then NCB Zonal Director Wankhede who has been named as accused number one in the CBI’s FIR.
Wankhede, on his part, approached the Delhi High Court seeking cross FIR against Deputy DG NCB Gyaneshwar Singh, claiming that the allegations by NCB against him are "false and misleading".
Wankhede alleged that Singh, having no authority over him, after his reversion from NCB last year, has been making false cases against him by interpolating the records.
"Singh is levelling false and malicious reference to the CBI for investigation in criminal law domain against him," his plea claimed.
Wankhede also alleged that Singh has falsified the records of NCB and CBI to claim that he (Wankhede) acquired assets after joining the government service, but the fact is that when he had acquired no such assets, and all the assets as referred to by him, were acquired prior to his (Wankhede) joining the service and that was verifiable from the records.
He further said that he is being victimised and harassed by Singh, as he is honest and upright.
In his petition filed through advocate Shubhi Srivastava, Wankhede said that he is victim of a situation where Singh, who was his direct controlling superior has been complainant against him, enquired into those complaints, evaluated his own findings as CVO (Chief Vigilance Officer) of the NCB, became witness of his own allegations and sat in judgement over his own testimony and findings, thus subverting principles of natural justice.
His plea also pointed out he had earlier been protected by the Bombay High Court on October 28, 2021 over harassment by Singh.
Wankhede is an officer of Indian Revenue Service of 2008 batch.
"In August, 2020 he was brought over to NCB by its Director General to carry specialised/sensitive investigation pending with/assigned to NCB. In October, 2021, petitioner was directed to supervise the case of one Aryan Khan drug abuse case and in that every action by him and his subordinates were taken with the prior approval of superiors, and were reported about. The arrest of Aryan Khan by NCB was made with due consultation, and as per Standard Operating Procedure but in the aftermath of political controversy, and media hysteria NCB constituted Special Investigation Team to enquire into acts of Petitioner and his subordinates without divesting Respondent No.6 (Singh) its controlling influence, and thus creating anomalous situation where Respondent No.6 enquired into his own conduct, and in his malafide resolve to cover up his own tracks, has been harassing the petitioner ever since, and has not stopped even after the petitioner has left the NCB on 3rd January, 2022, and has returned to his parent Cadre," his plea claimed.
