26 March,2026 02:55 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
IRS officer Sameer Dayanand Wankhede. File Pic
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to overturn the Delhi High Court's order permitting the Union government and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to move forward with disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer and former Mumbai NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede.
The proceedings are linked to the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug seizure case, during his tenure as Zonal Director with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the ANI reported.
Noting that authorities had appointed an Inquiry Officer and a Presenting Officer for the inquiry against Wankhede without giving him sufficient time to respond to the chargesheet, the apex court bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe allowed Wankhede to file his response within two weeks. The Court also directed the authorities to reconsider the appointment of the inquiry officers after taking his reply into account.
"While we are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court, we are of the opinion that the appointment of the Inquiry Officer as well as the Presenting Officer on March 7, 2026, was made without affording sufficient opportunity to the petitioner to file a reply to the chargesheet. For this reason, we permit the petitioner to represent himself and file a reply within two weeks. The respondents will take the decision after considering the reply, whether or not to appoint an Inquiry Officer and a Presenting Officer within two weeks thereafter," the Court noted, according to the ANI.
The apex court clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter while refusing to interfere with the Delhi High Court order that had quashed the relief to Wankhede.
The Delhi High Court, on February 27, had overturned a decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that had quashed disciplinary proceedings against Wankhede. A bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan held that the CAT should not have interfered at the stage when only a charge memorandum had been issued.
The High Court observed that a charge memo marks merely the beginning of disciplinary proceedings and does not constitute a finding of guilt. It noted that judicial intervention at such an early stage should be rare and limited to exceptional cases.
The disciplinary action against Wankhede stems from developments arising out of the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug seizure case, during his tenure as Zonal Director with the NCB. The case had attracted nationwide attention after the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, in connection with the cruise drug seizure.
(With ANI inputs)
