File photo of former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede. | Photo credit: PTI
Former Narcotics Control Zone (NCB) director Sameer Wankhede on Monday (March 23, 2026) informed the Bombay High Court that he did not demand a bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan in connection with the 2021 Cordelia cruise ship drug case involving the actor’s son Aryan Khan. The submission was made during the hearing of Mr. Wankhede’s petition seeking quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him and four others.
Mr. Wankhed’s counsel, senior advocate Aabad Pond, made the submission before a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam. The FIR claims to be demanding ₹25 crore as bribe from those arrested in the cruise case, including Mr Aryan Khan.
The CBI filed the FIR based on the Special Investigation Team (SET) report. The SET was set up to investigate allegations of procedural lapses by NCB officials, including Mr Wankhed.
His client claimed no bribe, no receipt of money and no instance of it being paid to him, Mr. Ponda said. While some private individuals were said to have received certain sums, they were not linked to Mr Wankhed, he said. “The case is (that) someone else took the money,” Mr Ponda said. The High Court has asked the CBI to produce material evidence, he said.
“The matter is now accepted and they (CBI) now have to file the charge sheet or decide what is the fate of the case,” Mr. Ponda said.
The bench will continue hearing the plea on March 24.
In 2025, the High Court extended interim protection from arrest to Mr Wankhede. The CBI could proceed to file the chargesheet after receiving the court’s approval, the HC said.
Mr Aryan Khan was granted bail by the Bombay HC in October 2021, almost 26 days after the NCB raid on the cruise ship. A separate NCB team that later investigated the matter did not name him in the charge sheet citing lack of evidence.
A CBI FIR against Mr. Wankhede and others was registered based on the SET report. The SET was headed by Gyaneshwar Singh, the then Deputy Director General of NCB.
Mr. Wankhede argued before the Supreme Court that the SET was trying to give Mr. Aryan Khan clear evidence by suppressing material information and evidence. He claimed that the FIR based on this report was motivated and demanded its quashing.
Published – 23 March 2026 17:28 IST
