‘Giving clean chit to Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan and…’, Sameer Wankhede’s new claim in the High Court

Sameer Wankhede Case: Sameer Wankhede, former director of Mumbai zone of anti-drugs agency NCB, has made a big claim in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court. He said that giving a ‘clean chit’ to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the seizure of drugs from the cruise and suppressing the evidence against him was the ultimate objective of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of NCB.

The High Court on Thursday extended till June 23 the interim stay on the arrest of Wankhede in the bribery and extortion case filed by the CBI. Wankhede claimed in his affidavit, “The SIT has distorted facts and made false allegations to damage the career and character of honest officers.”

Court bans arrest till June 23

The former director also claimed in the affidavit that the SIT gave a ‘clean chit’ to Aryan Khan by suppressing material information and evidence in violation of legal provisions. Wankhede filed a counter affidavit in a plea seeking quashing of the case registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of bribery and extortion.

The CBI alleges that Wankhede and the four accused demanded a bribe of Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan for not making Aryan Khan an accused in the alleged seizure of drugs from the Cordelia ship. The Central Investigation Agency had registered a case against Wankhede and the other accused last month on the basis of a written complaint made by the NCB.

A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and SG Digye said it would hear Wankhede’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged by the CBI on June 23. The High Court also extended the interim stay imposed on Wankhede’s arrest in the case till June 23.

SIT report biased- Wankhede

The NCB had constituted the SIT to investigate the irregularities at Wankhede in the drug recovery case from Cordelia Cruz. Aryan Khan was arrested in this case on 3 October 2021. However, Aryan was granted bail by the High Court after three weeks after the anti-narcotics agency failed to produce sufficient evidence to prove the allegations against him.

Wankhede alleged, “SET tried its best to create doubt about the Cordelia Cruz case, to fulfill its ultimate objective of giving a ‘clean chit’ to Aryan Khan.” He said in his affidavit that the SET report was biased. It was prepared only to ‘revenge’ from Wankhede. Because the Deputy Director General of NCB Gyaneshwar Singh had a personal grudge against him. Wankhede claimed that he had filed a complaint against Singh in August 2022 for committing ‘serious caste atrocities’.

CBI told the court that the investigation is now in an important stage

Defending the move of an independent witness to click a selfie with Aryan Khan in the drug seizure case in the cruise, Wankhede said in the affidavit that many people wanted to take pictures with Aryan in view of his celebrity status. The affidavit claimed that witness KP Gosavi took a selfie with Aryan without NCB’s permission.

Wankhede’s counsel Aabad Ponda told the court that as per the earlier directions of the court, Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers have appeared before the CBI seven times and are cooperating in the investigation. CBI counsel Kuldeep Patil told the court that the investigation in the case is now at a crucial stage. The bench said that it will hear Wankhede’s plea on June 23.

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