Enforcement Directorate Extends No-Arrest Assurance to Sameer Wankhede Till March 1

In response to Sameer Wankhede’s petition seeking to quash the money laundering case filed against him, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) assured the Bombay High Court that it would not arrest him until March 1. The division bench, comprising Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar, accepted this statement and scheduled Mr. Wankhede’s petition for hearing on March 1, directing the ED to provide a copy of the complaint on that day.

Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), faces allegations in connection with a purported ₹25-crore bribe demand from Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s family to spare his son in a drugs case. The ED’s decision comes after Wankhede filed a plea seeking protection from coercive action and a stay on the probe. Despite the ongoing legal battle, Wankhede maintains that the ED’s case against him is driven by malice and vendetta, claiming that powerful individuals have orchestrated agencies like the CBI, ED, and NCB against him.