The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to produce the material it has collected against its former zonal director Sameer Wankhede in the enquiry initiated against him. The court has also asked the agency to provide the details of the complaint against Wankhede and also the names of the complainants.
The NCB initiated an inquiry against Wankhede over allegations of irregularities in two cases probed by him when he was the zonal director in Mumbai.
Wankhede's Legal Defense
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Manjusha Deshpande was heading a petition filed by Wankhede challenging the notices issued by the NCB following a preliminary enquiry over irregularities in a drugs case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He has claimed that was being targeted and the inquiry was an "act of vengeance".
The IRS officer’s counsel Rajiv Chavan submitted a rejoinder affidavit before the court contending that the officer is being targeted and multiple cases were filed against him after he arrested Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan in an alleged drug bust case abord Cordelia Cruise in October 2021.
Further, he alleged, that former cabinet minister Nawab Malik also held a grudge against him as he had arrested Malik's son-in-law Sameer Khan in a drugs case.
CAT And Bombay HC Weigh In
The bench noted that Wankhede has also approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the NCB notices. The judges asked whether the prayers in both the pleas, before HC and before CAT, were overlapping.
“We cannot have simultaneous proceedings. When the notices are subjudice before the CAT, how can you come to the Bombay High Court,” Justice Dere asked. Chavan clarified that the plea before the CAT was in relation to another inquiry initiated by NCB.
The court then asked Wankhede to submit a chart providing details of the proceedings filed by him before different forums.
NCB Initiates Enquiry Against Sameer Wankhede
The HC has kept the matter for hearing on April 23. The NCB initiated enquiry against Wankhede in drug case related to Rajput deaths and arrest of a Nigerian national for drugs possession after it received complaints of alleged irregularities in these case, which were probed by Wankhede.
In May 2023, a corruption and extortion case was registered by the CBI against Wankhede, a 2008-batch IRS officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, for allegedly demanding Rs25 crore not to frame actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan in the Cordelia cruise drug but case of October 2021. The Enforcement Directorate later lodged a money laundering case against him.The officer has been granted interim relief by the HC in both the cases.
