Mr. Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), has approached the Bombay High Court, requesting the transfer of an atrocity case against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik to an independent agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Officer Wankhede, an additional commissioner in the Directorate General of Taxpayer Services and a member of the Mahar Scheduled Caste claims in his petition that the police’s lack of action in the case has caused him and his family severe mental distress and humiliation.
In August 2022, the IRS Wankhede (2008 batch) officer filed a complaint against Malik against Malik with the Goregaon police in suburban Mumbai under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The complaint accuses Malik of making defamatory remarks about Wankhede and his family, targeting their caste in interviews and on social media. To date, Malik has not been arrested, nor has a chargesheet been filed in the case.
In his petition filed on November 20th, Wankhede stated that the police had failed to investigate the matter, leading him to request that the case be transferred to the CBI. He also sought that the investigation be overseen by the court. The petition is expected to be heard on November 28th.
Officer Wankhede’s plea highlights the police’s “lackadaisical approach,” claiming it has caused grave injustice and emotional suffering for him and his family, who have been humiliated and defamed based on their caste. The petition further notes that in 2021, Wankhede’s father had filed a defamation suit against Malik in the High Court, resulting in a court order directing Malik to refrain from making further defamatory statements. However, Wankhede claims that Malik continued his slanderous remarks despite the court’s directive.
The petition also alleges that Malik, owing to his political influence, has managed to tamper with the police investigation. Wankhede asserts that the defamatory campaign against him and his family began after his involvement in the arrest of Malik’s son-in-law, Sameer Khan, in a drug case in 2021. According to Wankhede, Malik launched a sustained smear campaign against him and his family on social media and television, questioning the authenticity of his caste certificate.
In October 2021, IRS Wankhede had also filed a complaint with the Scheduled Castes Commission, urging action against Malik. Wankhede came under public scrutiny after his NCB team arrested actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drug case aboard the Cordelia cruise ship in Mumbai in October 2021. Aryan Khan was granted bail by the High Court after spending three weeks in custody.
