The Bombay High Court has granted former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede interim protection until Monday, and directed him to appear before the CBI on Saturday, for investigation.

Wankhede was present during the court proceedings, and senior advocate Rizwan Merchant represented him, making extensive arguments about the alleged misuse of power. Merchant emphasized that Wankhede, a celebrated IRS officer of the Indian government, has been wrongly implicated in the case. He further contended that the CBI does not have jurisdiction to register the case and referred to Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which imposes a time limit of four months for completing the inquiry from the date of registration of the main offense. In the Cordelia case, the offense was registered on October 3, 2021, and more than two years have passed since then, with the FIR only being registered recently.