Hype over substance

The NCB is caught in a credibility crisis. A fair vigilance probe could be the only way out

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

THE HEADQUARTERS OF the Narcotics Control Bureau in Delhi is in a tizzy. The situation has been so ever since Sameer Wankhede, the NCB’s Mumbai zonal director, was accused of wrongdoing in the investigation into the Cordelia Cruise drug case involving actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.

A 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, Wankhede was leading the investigation in the case. A fortnight ago, he had called the NCB headquarters and sought help in completing procedural requirements in the investigation. Some of his requests were part of the NCB’s standard operating procedure—issuing legal notices, for instance—while others seemed hurriedly prepared. That he wanted to ask a foreign country to share information related to the case made it appear that Wankhede was getting ahead of himself.

Apparently concerned, the NCB top brass asked Wankhede to explain how he established a foreign link in the case against Khan, who was facing accusations of financing drug trafficking. Not convinced by his explanation, the headquarters decided to stall the move.

On October 28, Khan was granted bail after spending more than three weeks in Arthur Road jail. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who made submissions on Khan’s behalf, said the conspiracy charge was added as an afterthought by the NCB. It was not part of the arrest memo, he said. Also, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act does not allow the NCB to imprison a person just because it feels that he can consume drugs if set free. WhatsApp chats have no evidentiary value, said Rohatgi, and the NCB had not recovered drugs from Khan’s person in the first place.