Aryan Khan Case: Bombay HC Asks Whether Chats Were Leaked by Wankhede

MUMBAI: On Monday, the Bombay High Court rebuked former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede, asking him whether the responsibility for the media leak of chats between him and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan lay with him.

Wankhede, the ex-NCB official accused of trying to extort Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan in order to avoid implicating his son Aryan Khan in a drugs case, was asked by the court whether he had circulated the chat. Responding to the accusation, Wankhede’s advocate Ponda, reportedly replied, "It was part of the petition. I didn't circulate."

Wankhede was also described by advocate Ponda to be an "upright officer" and that the said chats were produced to prove that SRK was not demanded anything from Wankhede.

Despite the matter being sub judice, last week, the purported chats between Wankhede and SRK were somehow leaked to the media.

In the screenshots of chats produced before the court, Shah Rukh Khan purportedly urged Wankhede, who was probing the drugs case involving Aryan Khan at that time, not to let Aryan be in jail as it would "destroy his spirit".

In the chats produced by Wankhede, Shah Rukh Khan also tells the officer that Aryan doesn't deserve to be in a jail like a hardened criminal.

In 2021, Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan was arrested during a drugs raid by a NCB team led by Sameer Wankhede and he was accused of possessing and consuming drugs. Aryan has since been released and the charges against him have been dropped. Ironically, Wankhede is now in the dock and facing charges of blackmailing SRK.

The former NCB chief has also approached the Bombay High Court, seeking quashing of the CBI FIR.

But the Bombay High Court, while granting Wankhede protection from arrest in the extortion case till June 8, placed certain conditions on him. The court said Wankhede’s protection from coercive action was subject to his not publicising any material either through WhatsApp chats or giving any press statement on the petition or investigation’s subject matter.

Meanwhile, Wankhede claimed that, for the past few days, he and his wife have been receiving death threats. He also said that he has written to the Mumbai police commissioner in this connection and requested for special protection.

On Monday, his interim protection from any coercive action, such as arrest, has been extended by the court till June 8.

The matter will be heard by the court next on June 8.

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