The Supreme Court has declined to interfere with the Delhi High Court's decision, which upheld the promotion of Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer. This decision marks the conclusion of a legal battle regarding Wankhede's promotion to the position of Additional Commissioner from January 2021.
Wankhede, a 2008-batch IRS officer, came into public attention for his role as the Mumbai Zonal Director of the NCB between 2020 and January 2022. During this period, the NCB Mumbai registered the Cordelia Cruise drug case, which involved Aryan Khan, the son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. Subsequently, allegations of procedural lapses in the investigation surfaced, leading to the constitution of a special enquiry team (SET) by the NCB. The SET submitted its report in June 2022.
Wankhede challenged the SET report before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), arguing that the officer heading the enquiry had also supervised the investigation in the Cordelia cruise case. In August 2023, CAT accepted Wankhede's contention, holding that the officer involved in the Cordelia case investigation could not have been part of the SET. The Tribunal also noted that the SET report was only a preliminary enquiry. The Delhi High Court later affirmed this legal position, clarifying that the findings of a preliminary enquiry cannot be used to indict an employee in disciplinary proceedings.
In December 2024, the CAT directed the government to open the sealed cover and ruled that if the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recommended Wankhede's name, he should be promoted to the post of Additional Commissioner from January 2021.
The Union government's conduct was criticised by a Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain, who noted the Centre's failure to disclose an order passed by the CAT in August 2025 staying the departmental proceedings initiated against Wankhede, even though the said order pre-dated the filing of the review petition.
In a separate but related matter, the principal bench of the CAT had on Monday, January 20, 2026, set aside the disciplinary charge framed against Wankhede by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The CAT restrained the authorities from proceeding further based on the charge memorandum. The Tribunal criticized the CBIC's conduct and suggested that its actions were an attempt to stall Wankhede's promotion, further noting "malice in law and personal vendetta". The CAT noted that the charge memorandum bore no real connection to the alleged allegations and appeared to be a retaliation arising from a number of decisions in Wankhede's matters. The bench hoped that the CBIC would improve its practices.
Despite the criticism, the tribunal refrained from imposing costs on the CBIC, expressing hope that the board would mend its ways and establish an administrative mechanism that upholds the rule of law.
Meanwhile, in May 2023, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR against Wankhede based on evidence included in the SET report. Wankhede then filed a petition before the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the CBI FIR alleging bribery during the Aryan Khan drug case investigation. The High Court admitted the petition, observing that “arguable questions are raised,” and granted interim relief, directing the CBI to complete its probe within three months.
