On the morning of April 19th, another controversial bureaucrat Mr. Gyaneshwar Singh (1999 batch IPS officer) was removed from the designation of the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Mr. Singh was involved in the contentious Cordelia Cruise drug investigation case involving Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan.
As clarified by other top officials at the NCB — Mr. Singh was booted out of office after allegations of dereliction of duty and misconduct surfaced. The official stated, “A complaint about NCB CVO stay at ITC Narmada Ahmedabad last March was investigated and some officers on deputation were repatriated back to their respective organisation. A part-time CVO for three months has been appointed to further investigate the complaints.”
In October 2023, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) nulled a review petition filed by Deputy Director General Gyaneshwar Singh, who was heading the Special Enquiry Team (SET) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a controversial CBI FIR against Indian Revenue Service officer and former NCB Zonal Director, Sameer Wankhede. The SET report finalised by Mr. Singh was declared unlawful, and adverse remarks were passed against Gyaneshwar Singh by the CAT. Officer Singh had led the vigilance enquiry into allegations made by a witness against NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of extortion to frame Aryan Khan in the controversial Cordelia Cruise drug case.
