Delhi HC Fines Centre ₹20K, Dismisses Review Plea in Sameer Wankhede Promotion Case

The Delhi High Court on Friday, October 17, 2025, imposed a cost of ₹20,000 on the Central Government while rejecting its review plea challenging the court’s earlier order directing the promotion of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede to the post of Joint Commissioner of Customs and Indirect Taxes, if found eligible.

A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain criticised the Union Government for concealing material facts in the matter. Deprecating its conduct, the bench observed that the government had failed to disclose that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had stayed departmental proceedings against Wankhede.

“We would expect that the petitioner, being the government, as a state, would disclose all facts truthfully before us while filing the writ. For the above-mentioned petition, we dismiss the same with costs of ₹20,000 to be deposited with the Delhi High Court Advocates’ Welfare Fund,” the Bench stated.

The Central Government had sought a review of the August 28, 2025 order, in which the High Court had upheld the CAT’s direction to open the sealed cover pertaining to Wankhede’s promotion. The court had also instructed the government to promote him to the post of Additional Commissioner of Customs and Indirect Taxes with effect from January 1, 2021.

Challenging this decision, the government filed a review petition arguing that, prior to the August 28 order, the competent authority had issued a charge memorandum and initiated departmental proceedings against Wankhede on August 18, thereby justifying the invocation of the sealed cover procedure.

Rejecting this contention, the High Court noted that the Centre had failed to establish any valid reason for keeping Wankhede’s promotion in a sealed cover, as there was no charge sheet, pending disciplinary inquiry, or criminal case against him at that time.

Wankhede had earlier come into public attention after leading the arrest of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan Khan, in the 2021 Cordelia Cruise drugs case. Subsequently, agencies, including the CBI and ED, registered cases against him, alleging that he had demanded a Rs 25-crore bribe from Shah Rukh Khan in exchange for not implicating his son.

Recently, Wankhede also moved the Delhi High Court with a defamation suit seeking an injunction against the Netflix series Ba***ds of Bollywood”, directed by Aryan Khan, claiming that the show was created with the intention of maligning his reputation.

Case Title: Union of India v. Sameer Dnyandev Wankhede

Bench: Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain

Hearing Date: 17 October 2025

With Inputs from Hindustan Times