Bombay HC extends Sameer Wankhede’s relief from arrest till March 27

Money laundering case: The Bombay High Court on Friday extended the exemption from arrest in connection with the money laundering case.

Mumbai: The court postponed the case until March 27. The case was adjourned after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought time to file a brief on Sameer Wankhede’s petition challenging ED’s Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against him. ECIR is a formal registration of a complaint filed by the ED. Wankhede challenged the ECIR in the Bombay HC and sought to quash the case against him. Further, the Bombay HC has scheduled a hearing on the case before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Wankhede on the same date. The court was told that the Advocate General would appear in both cases on that date himself.

Earlier on February 10, the Enforcement Directorate initiated the money laundering case against Wankhede, admitting a CBI FIR alleging that he had sought a bribe of Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan’s family to spare his son in the cruise drug case.

Wankhede had expressed surprise over the fact that the ED’s ECIR is based on a CBI FIR, which is under dispute before the Bombay HC.

Last year, the CBI booked Wankhede for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore as bribe for not framing actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. The agency said the deal was struck for Rs 18 crore, adding that Wankhade’s assets were disproportionate to his known sources of income. The FIR copy stated that he could not justify the expenses incurred during his foreign visit.