Delhi HC reserves verdict on Centre's plea challenging relief to IRS officer Sameer Wankhede

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea by the Centre challenging an order quashing disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case. He said no action has been initiated against the NCB lawyer from whom Wankhede allegedly obtained an assurance with respect to the drug bust case.

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a plea by the Centre challenging an order quashing disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case. A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan heard the counsels for the Centre and Wankhede before reserving its verdict on the matter. The Centre has challenged an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) dated January 19, quashing the 'Charge Memorandum' issued to Wankhede on August 18, 2025, by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Wankhede, a 2008-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, made headlines for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in the Cordelia cruise drug bust case during his tenure in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai, in 2021. Wankhede filed an original application before the CAT, challenging the disciplinary inquiry against him by the CBIC for allegedly seeking confidential information related to the probe from the NCB's legal department after he was relieved from the agency. It was also alleged that he sought an ''assurance'' from the NCB's legal officer to ''steer the investigation'' in the probe. The Centre's lawyer on Monday contended that the CAT's finding on the disciplinary proceedings being ''malafide'' was just a ''bald assertion'' which could not be sustained in light of the material on record. He said the disciplinary proceedings were based on a call transcript dated June 2, 2022, which was placed on record by Wankhede himself in his petition before the Bombay High Court. The transcript, the lawyer alleged, revealed that in spite of his formal detachment from the NCB, Wankhede attempted to unauthorisedly access official and confidential information and influence the course of the investigation. He also said that contrary to the CAT's conclusion, there were ''specific'' charges against Wankhede, and in case of any procedural shortcoming, the department should have been given the liberty to correct its course. Wankhede's lawyer, on the other hand, defended the CAT's decision, saying the disciplinary proceedings were an attempt to harass his client. He said no action has been initiated against the NCB lawyer from whom Wankhede allegedly obtained an ''assurance'' with respect to the drug bust case. ''There is ex facie malafide in the manner in which you have chargesheeted him. The order (of the CAT) deserves to be upheld,'' the lawyer submitted. On January 12, the high court refused to interfere with the order of the CAT staying disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede. It, however, asked the CAT to make ''sincere efforts'' to decide the main matter on January 14 or within the next 10 days.

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