Court Adjourns ED Case Against IRS Officer Wankhede to March 1

A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar has deferred the hearing of a petition filed by Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede until March 1. Wankhede is seeking to quash a money laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following allegations of a ₹25-crore bribe demand related to a drug case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan. The ED’s decision not to arrest Wankhede until the mentioned date was accepted by the court, extending the protection against coercive actions.

The allegations stem from a 2021 incident where Aryan Khan was implicated in a drugs-on-cruise case but later received a clean chit. The ED registered the money laundering case against Wankhede after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) accusing him of extortion and bribery. The bench also postponed another petition by Wankhede against a separate CBI case of extortion and bribery to March 27.

Wankhede, who has been under scrutiny since his involvement in the high-profile drug bust on the Cordelia cruise ship in 2021, has defended himself by alleging malice and vendetta behind the ED’s case. He accuses certain NCB officials and powerful figures of orchestrating a campaign against him, following his complaint against NCB’s deputy director last month. The saga continues to unfold as the judiciary examines the intricate details of the case against Wankhede.

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