Delhi HC sets aside CAT order quashing disciplinary charges against Sameer Wankhede

The action against Wankhede arose from a charge memorandum issued on August 18, 2025, alleging that despite his formal de attachment from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)

The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order quashing disciplinary charges framed against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the 2021 Aryan Khan drug case.

The action against Wankhede arose from a charge memorandum issued on August 18, 2025. (HT file photo)

The action against Wankhede arose from a charge memorandum issued on August 18, 2025, alleging that despite his formal de attachment from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), he attempted to unauthorisedly access official and confidential information and influence the course of investigation in the case by seeking assurances from NCB’s departmental legal advisor in clear violation of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.

The action, to be sure, was based on a call transcript between Wankhede and the NCB’s departmental legal adviser dated June 2022, a copy of which was placed on record by Wankhede himself before the Bombay High Court in his petition seeking quashing of the corruption and extortion case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The central agency alleged that Wankhede had failed to perform and discharge his duties with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity.

On January 19, CAT had quashed the charge memorandum, concluding that the same was vitiated by grave procedural impropriety, motivated and issued with malice. The tribunal had also held that the charges were vague and indefinite, contained bald and omnibus allegations without material particulars and even without a list of witnesses, and the basis on which the charge memorandum was issued constituted the very substratum of the criminal proceedings pending before the Bombay High Court.

The tribunal had noted that though the Bombay High Court in May 2023 had restrained the CBI from acting further against Wankhede, the Centre had issued the charge memorandum.

The Centre had then moved the high court against CAT’s order.

“The petition (filed by Centre) is allowed,” a bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan said while pronouncing the verdict.

A detailed copy of the judgement is awaited.

The court passed the order in Centre’s petition challenging CAT’s January 19 order, asserting that the charges framed against Wankhede were not vague but specific, and that there was no mala fide intent in proceeding against him, as the action was initiated after alleged misconduct on his part came to light.

Centre’s counsel Ravi Prakash had said that the same were based on the transcript filed by Wankhede in the case pending before the Bombay High Court, in which he had specifically pleaded the date, time, persons involved, case reference and even admitted the same.

Wankhede, while serving as the zonal director of the Mumbai NCB, had arrested Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, in 2021. However, later, he came under scrutiny of multiple agencies, including the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in July 2023, for allegedly demanding a ₹25 crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not implicating Aryan Khan in the case.