The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Centre to act upon the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) recommendation regarding the promotion of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. The court clarified that if his name figures in the UPSC’s recommendation, he must be promoted to the post of Additional Commissioner with effect from January 1, 2021.
A division bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) December 2024 ruling, which had ordered the government to open the sealed cover pertaining to Wankhede’s promotion. The Centre had earlier kept his promotion in abeyance due to pending criminal investigations.
The bench, however, noted that there was “no admission of guilt on the part of the respondent” and no departmental proceedings or charge sheet were pending against him. It observed that while cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) were still under probe, neither agency had filed a charge sheet. The court also highlighted that Wankhede had not been suspended, and the petitioners themselves had advised the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) not to proceed with disciplinary proceedings.
The Centre had approached the High Court challenging CAT’s order, citing grave allegations against Wankhede, including FIRs and ECIRs. It contended that the seriousness of the charges justified withholding his promotion. The court, however, referred to the Bombay High Court’s order from July 2025, which recorded delays in the CBI investigation, and reiterated that no conclusive action had been taken against the officer.
Wankhede was represented by senior advocates Sudhir Nandrajog and Arvind Nayar along with advocate T Singhdev. Advocate Ashish Dixit appeared for the Union of India.
A 2008-batch IRS officer, Wankhede rose to public prominence during his tenure as NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Director in 2021, when he spearheaded the controversial Cordelia cruise drug case. He was later accused of attempting to extort Rs 25 crore from actor Shah Rukh Khan’s family by threatening to implicate his son Aryan Khan in the case, allegations that remain under investigation.
