In a significant development, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has rejected a review petition, bolstering former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. This decision deals a blow to Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh, who was leading an investigation into alleged procedural lapses by the IRS officer during the Cordelia Cruise drug bust case. Additionally, accusations of extorting Rs 25 crore from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan were under scrutiny.
Previously, in August, CAT had ruled that NCB Deputy DG Gyaneshwar Singh should not have been part of an inquiry team tasked with investigating the alleged procedural lapses by Sameer Wankhede in the bribery case.
The tribunal's August 21 order emphasized that since the findings submitted by the inquiry team were preliminary, the Union government and NCB were required to provide Wankhede with a personal hearing before taking any action based on the report.
The tribunal argued that senior IPS officer Gyaneshwar Singh had provided instructions to Wankhede related to the drugs-on-cruise case investigation, making him unsuitable to be a part of the inquiry team.
Chairman Justice Ranjit More and member Anand Mathur of the tribunal observed that after the drugs case was registered, Gyaneshwar Singh not only supervised and instructed Wankhede in the investigation but also outlined the course of action.
Notably, Aryan Khan and several others were arrested in October 2021 on charges of drug possession, consumption, and trafficking. Aryan Khan was subsequently granted bail by the high court after spending over three weeks in jail.
Although the NCB filed a charge sheet, Aryan was not named as an accused, citing a lack of evidence. The anti-drugs agency established a Special Enquiry Team (SET) to investigate the case, including its own officers.
The SET's report alleged that Wankhede, who had initially probed the controversial drugs-on-cruise case involving actor Aryan Khan, had violated service rules, including misreporting foreign travel expenses and luxury watch transactions. The CBI then registered an FIR against Wankhede on charges of extortion and bribery based on the SET's findings.
Wankhede argued that it violated the principles of natural justice for Singh to lead the SET investigating his own case.
