Cruise drug bust bribery case: Accused Sam D'Souza denied interim protection by HC, may move sessions court for pre-arrest bail

The Bombay High Court on Friday denied interim protection to Sanville, alias Sam DSouza, in a case related to an alleged demand of Rs 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case.The accused is now likely to approach the sessions court for anticipatory bail.Former Narcotics Control Bureau NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede is one of the accused in the case.DSouza, through advocate Pankaj Jadhav, had filed a plea seeking quashing of the case against him.

The Bombay High Court on Friday denied interim protection to Sanville, alias Sam D'Souza, in a case related to an alleged demand of Rs 25 crore bribe from actor Shah Rukh Khan for not implicating his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case.

The accused is now likely to approach the sessions court for anticipatory bail.

Former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede is one of the accused in the case.

D'Souza, through advocate Pankaj Jadhav, had filed a plea seeking quashing of the case against him. He also sought interim protection from any coercive action, like arrest, until his plea was decided.

Refusing to grant D'Souza any interim protection, a vacation bench of Justices Abhay Ahuja and MM Sathaye said he can approach the sessions court for anticipatory bail.

D'Souza then withdrew his plea. He is likely to approach the sessions court on Monday for pre-arrest bail.

D'Souza approached the HC after it granted interim protection to Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Wankhede on an undertaking that he will attend the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as and when called and not make any statement about the case in the media.

The CBI recently filed a first information report (FIR) against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan for not framing Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case. D'Souza was also named as an accused. Seeking relief for D'Souza on Friday, Karnik cited the interim protection granted to Wankhede.

The principal allegation is against Wankhede and it's more serious in nature, said Karnik. "Grant me (D'Souza) relief on parity," he added. However, CBI said D'Souza could have approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail. The main accused is a public servant, stressed the agency.

During the arguments, the court said that D'Souza's liberty was not at stake and "he can't piggyback" on others.

The CBI has booked Wankhede and four others, including D'Souza, for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threats, 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 NCB's Mumbai zone received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on a 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.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)