The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition by NCB officer Sameer Wankhede where he had requested that any investigation against him should be conducted only by CBI or NIA, and not by Mumbai Police. The court dismissed the petition after the Maharashtra govt assured the court that Sameer Wankhede will be given advance notice of 72 hours before he is arrested in an extortion case the police is probing against him.
Sameer Wankhede, who is heading the high-profile cruise ship drug case, had approached the high court saying that he has apprehension that he will be arrested by Maharashtra police. He had requested the case against him should be given to CBI or NIA, and the police should not be allowed to proceed against him under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption act.
Court: PP assures 3 working days notice will be given before arrest by Mumbai Police. Writ petition is disposed off. Needless to state we have not commented on merits of case.#KiranGosavi #AryanKhanDrugCase #MumbaiPolice #SameerWakhede pic.twitter.com/a9F9p5Tp9l
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) October 28, 2021
However, the public prosecutor representing Maharashtra Police opposed the plea, saying that it is premature as no FIR has been registered in the case yet and the investigation has just started. The state govt had requested the court to adjourn the matter for tomorrow, but the court refused, saying everything can’t be delayed like this. The court said that either the state govt will have to assure that no coercive action will be taken or else the court will pass an order.
After this, the state govt assured the court notice of 72 hours will be given to Sameer Wankhede if they register any case against him and arrest him. On getting this assurance, the court of Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice SV Kotwal dismissed the petition by the NCB officer, saying that the court is not commenting on the merits of the case.
After NCB had busted a rave party at a cruise ship in Mumbai and arrested Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, the Maharashtra govt, especially the NCP, has launched a campaign against Narcotics Control Bureau’s Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. The police had launched a probe against him after NCB’s independent witness Prabhakar Sail had claimed that NCB had demanded Rs. 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and Rs. 8 crore out of the 25 crore was to be paid to Sameer Wankhede. NCB has already ordered a vigilance enquiry on the allegations.
In the meanwhile, minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik has launched a personal attack on the NCB zonal director, bringing his sister, former wife into the matter and questioning his scheduled caste status.
