Since last 3 years CBI is delaying the conclusion of the case because it left with two stark options: either to close the case against former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede, or proceed with its own allegations and take steps against Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan and Pooja Dadlani for paying bribe which is an offence punishable under section 8-A of Prevention of Corruption Act.
As per order dated 08.07.2025 last chance was given by the High Court to CBI to conclude case within three months.
Mumbai: The CBI appears to have landed in a serious bind in the Sameer Wankhede case after the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court reportedly took a firm stand and declined to grant further indulgence to the agency at the stage of final hearing.
With the matter now adjourned only for two weeks, the pressure is squarely on the CBI to take a decisive stand.
The controversy arose from an FIR registered on May 11, 2023, alleging that Wankhede had demanded a bribe of Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan for securing Aryan Khan’s release in the Cordelia cruise drugs case and had accepted Rs 50 lakh as advance through an alleged middleman from Khan’s manager, Pooja Dadlani.
But the case appears to have hit a major contradiction. Shah Rukh Khan is stated to have denied that any such bribe was ever paid. That denial strikes at the very foundation of the prosecution story.
Wankhede was granted interim relief by a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 19, 2023. Thereafter, Rashid Khan Pathan and Advocate Ishwarlal Agarwal filed Criminal PIL (L) No. 10580 of 2023 before the Bombay High Court. In that PIL, they sought action in the alternative: if the CBI version was true, Shah Rukh Khan & others ought to be arrayed as an accused for giving bribe; if not, action should be initiated against officials of the NCB and the CBI for allegedly misusing government machinery by registering frivolous FIR to target and harass Wankhede.
Despite the seriousness of the issue, the CBI is alleged to have avoided filing its final report for nearly three years. The agency had given an undertaking to the court on 08.07.2025 that the matter would be concluded before October 2025, but no conclusion followed.
The court had earlier, by its order dated July 8, 2025, granted what was stated to be a final three-month opportunity to CBI to conclude the case. Even that deadline passed without closure.
After another five months of delay, Rashid Khan Pathan moved his writ petition, which was listed on March 23, 2026 before the bench of the Chief Justice along with the writ petition filed by Sameer Wankhede. Adv. Nilesh Ojha appearing for Rashid Khan Pathan pointed out the illegality by CBI.
Even then, the CBI sought more time, citing the unavailability of its counsel. This time, however, the Chief Justice did not appear inclined to permit the matter to drift any further and proceeded with the hearing.
When the matter came up thereafter, senior counsel for Sameer Wankhede, Shri Abad Ponda, sought short time to place a case compilation on record. The court accordingly adjourned the matter by two weeks.
That brief adjournment has now placed the CBI in a critical position. In the coming fortnight, the agency may have to decide whether it will finally close the case, file a report, or carry its own allegations to their logical legal end by making Shahrukh Khan, Aryan Khan & Pooja Dadlani as an accused.
