Supreme Court Grants Relief To Sameer Wankhede, Orders Fair Hearing Before Inquiry In Cordelia Drug Bust Row

The bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe was hearing Wankhede’s plea against a recent order of the Delhi High Court, which had set aside a decision of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashing the disciplinary proceedings.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Wankhede, argued that the charge sheet issued against his client was fundamentally flawed and devoid of any substantive allegations. “There is no charge made out at all. The charge sheet has been filed only to deny him promotion,” Patwalia submitted, alleging victimisation and procedural irregularities. He pointed out that the charge sheet was issued nearly three years after the alleged events and after Wankhede had secured favourable orders from the CAT.

Patwalia further contended that despite the CAT directing Wankhede’s promotion, the authorities neither complied with the order nor challenged it in time. Instead, he argued, disciplinary proceedings were initiated belatedly to sidestep the consequences of that order.

The Bench, however, indicated that it was not inclined to quash the proceedings at this stage. “It is not as if it is a clean slate where there is nothing at all,” Justice Narasimha observed, adding that the Court would intervene where necessary but did not find grounds to terminate the proceedings outright.

At the same time, the Court took note of procedural concerns raised by Wankhede, particularly the appointment of an inquiry officer without affording him adequate opportunity to respond to the charge sheet.

Addressing Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, the Bench flagged that the authorities appeared to have proceeded without waiting for Wankhede’s reply, raising questions about fairness in the process.

In response, the ASG submitted that the appointment of the inquiry officer was in line with the High Court’s directions, as Wankhede had not acted within the stipulated time.

Balancing the competing claims, the Supreme Court passed a limited order to safeguard procedural fairness. It held that the appointment of the inquiry officer on March 7, 2026, had been made without granting sufficient opportunity to the petitioner.

The Court directed that Wankhede be given one week to file his reply to the charge sheet. It further ordered that the authorities shall, thereafter, take a decision within two weeks on whether to appoint an inquiry officer and proceed with the disciplinary inquiry.

Importantly, the Bench clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.

In February, the High Court had set aside an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) quashing disciplinary proceedings against IRS officer Sameer Wankhede in connection with the 2021 Cordelia cruise drug bust case. A division bench had allowed the plea filed by the Central Government challenging the Tribunal’s January 19 order.

Pronouncing the verdict, the Court had stated that the petition was allowed, effectively restoring the charge memorandum issued against Wankhede. The Tribunal had earlier quashed the departmental action, holding that the proceedings were vitiated by grave procedural impropriety, malice in law and abuse of process. It had found fault with the manner in which the charge memorandum dated August 18, 2025 was issued and concluded that the decision to proceed reflected a predetermined mindset.

Earlier, Court criticised the Union government for concealing material facts while seeking a review of its past order directing the promotion of IRS officer Sameer Wankhede to the post of Joint Commissioner of Customs and Indirect Taxes

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.