The Bombay High Court on Monday extended till June 8
the interim protection granted to former NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede in
a case in which he is accused of demanding Rs 25 crore bribe from superstar
Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise 'drug
bust' case.
Last Friday, the HC had directed the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive against the Indian Revenue
Service (IRS) officer till May 22.
A vacation bench of justices Abhay Ahuja and M M
Sathaye on Monday extended Wankhede's interim protection from any coercive
action, such as arrest, while hearing his plea seeking quashing of the CBI's
FIR against him.
The bench also directed Wankhede to give an
undertaking that he will not talk to the media about the case, appear before
the CBI as and when called, and not tamper with evidence.
The CBI recently filed an FIR against Wankhede for
allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood star's son
Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.
The probe agency has booked Wankhede and four others
for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat, besides provisions
pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, on a complaint by
the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The agency has alleged that the NCB, Mumbai Zone,
received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession
of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship and
some of its officers conspired and obtained undue advantage in the form of
bribes from the alleged accused.
Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3,
2021 after a raid on the Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the
Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its
charges against him.