In a case that refuses to fade, former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede has told the Bombay High Court that he neither demanded nor accepted any bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan, insisting someone else was responsible.
Appearing before the court on Monday, Wankhede said the allegations linking him to a Rs 25 crore bribe demand in the Aryan Khan case were misplaced.
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“It was never him who had demanded or taken any bribe and it was someone else,” his counsel Aabad Ponda argued, adding that even the CBI’s case did not directly attribute the alleged payment to Wankhede.
The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam, however, made it clear that the absence of a chargesheet was not central to the matter.
“The issue is not whether a chargesheet is filed or not but whether there is material in the case,” the bench said, asking the defence to show why the FIR should be quashed.
Wankhede had moved the High Court in 2023 seeking to quash the CBI FIR registered against him. The matter remains under investigation, with no chargesheet filed so far.
The bribery allegations stem from the high-profile October 2021 Cordelia cruise case, when Wankhede was serving on deputation with the Narcotics Control Bureau.
Several Bollywood-linked cases emerged during that period, including the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan.
Though no drugs were found in Aryan Khan’s possession, he was travelling with someone who allegedly had a small quantity. The NCB later cited phone chats referring to past drug consumption as grounds to book him.
According to the FIR, a Rs 25 crore bribe was allegedly sought from Shah Rukh Khan to avoid implicating his son in the case.
In court, Ponda argued that the bribery allegations were separate from other cases involving Wankhede, including those related to disproportionate assets.
He maintained that there was no direct link tying Wankhede to the alleged demand or acceptance of money.
The court is set to continue hearing the matter on Tuesday.
The case has seen repeated delays. In July 2025, the CBI had told the court it would complete its investigation within three months. That timeline has since lapsed, with the probe still ongoing.
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Published By:
Sonali Verma
Published On:
Mar 24, 2026 10:58 IST
